Where's President Obama?The White House has just released the photo, above, of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, taken during Netanyahu's July 6 visit to Washington to meet with President Obama.
In the photo, taken by official presidential photographer Pete Souza, Madame Secretary and the Prime Minister and his delegation are in the Cabinet Room of the White House, for a closed-press working lunch, and awaiting the arrival of President Obama.
It's the only official photo release from the lunch, and interesting that the image doesn't include the President or anyone else from the White House: Attendees included Vice President Joe Biden; chief of staff Rahm Emanuel; U.N. ambassador Susan Rice; National Security Adviser Jim Jones; Tom Donilon, assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser; Middle East special envoy George Mitchell; James Cunningham, U.S. ambassador to Israel; Dennis Ross, special assistant to the president and senior director for the central region; and Dan Shapiro, senior director for Middle East and North Africa.
No menu for the lunch was released. The day marked the fifth meeting between President Obama and the Prime Minister, and much time was spent publicly reaffirming the special relationship between the two nations.
"The bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable," President Obama said during a press conference before the luncheon.
The day also marked a first meeting between First Lady Michelle Obama and Mrs. Sara Netanyahu, the Prime Minister's wife (above). They shared tea in the Yellow Oval Room of the White House, accompanied by First Dog Bo. More on their visit is here.*White House lunch photo by Pete Souza; tea photo by Samantha Appleton/White House
