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Israel's Netanyahu Plays Down Tensions With The US

   VOA News 28 March 2010
   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Photo: AP

   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

   Israeli  Prime  Minister  Benjamin  Netanyahu is playing down tensions
   with the United States.
   Mr.  Netanyahu, who met with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington
   last  week,  told  his  Cabinet  Sunday  that  Israel and the U.S. are
   "allies and friends" who can work out their differences.
   Mr.  Netanyahu  also  distanced  himself  from comments in the Israeli
   newspaper  Yedioth Ahronoth, where sources close to the prime minister
   said  U.S.  President  Barack  Obama is a "disaster" for Israel.  The
   prime minister told the Cabinet the comments were "unacceptable."
   Israel  has  rejected  U.S. pressure to put an end to its construction
   projects  in East Jerusalem, insisting that the entire city is part of
   its united capital.
   The  U.S.  is  trying  to  revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and
   wants  Israel  to  stop  building  1,600  new  settler  homes  in East
   Jerusalem.   Palestinians  want East Jerusalem as their capital for a
   future state.
   The  divide  has  embroiled  the  two countries in what some diplomats
   describe  as  the worst crisis between Israel and the United States in
   decades.

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