President and Prime Minister hammer out policy as First Dog Bo joins First Lady and Mrs. Netanyahu...video, belowB
efore President Obama welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House on Tuesday, First Lady Michelle Obama set the stage for the day of diplomacy by sending a bouquet of flowers to Blair House for the Israeli Prime Minister and his wife, Sara Netanyahu.The flowers were accompanied by a special card from Mrs. Obama, expressing the hope that the relations between the US and Israel would grow closer, according to Israel News. That became the theme of the day, as the President and Mrs. Obama reaffirmed the ties between the two nations. (At top: President Obama and Mr. Netanyahu; inset is Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Netanyahu)
The meeting between the President and Prime Minister was their fifth, and included a closed-press working lunch in the Cabinet Room, with the Israeli delegation and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also in attendance. Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Netanyahu shared tea in the Yellow Oval Room, for their very first meeting. The last time the President and Mr. Netanyahu met, in March, relations were fairly frosty. There was no official photo op, and the Prime Minister, not accompanied by his wife, entered the White House through a side door (there was a dinner with Vice President Joe Biden, however).
"The bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable," President Obama said during a pre-lunch joint press conference with the Prime Minister, from the Oval Office.
"The reports about the demise of the special US-Israel relationship aren't just premature, they're just flat wrong," Mr. Netanyahu echoed. Watch the video of the press conference, below.
The Prime Minster also extended an invitation to the First Couple."You know, I've been coming here a lot," Mr. Netanyahu told President Obama. "It's about time you and the first lady came to Israel, sir."
"I'm ready," President Obama said. "We look forward to it. Thank you."
Lunch in the Cabinet Room followed the presser, and in addition to Sec. Clinton guests 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. (Above: President Obama, Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Biden at the White House)
Update: On July 16, the White House released this photo of the Cabinet Room lunch.
Tea for three...First Dog Bo became a special four-legged ambassador when he joined Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Netanyahu during their afternoon tea, and was given plenty of pats by both. Bo's impromptu interlude was reported by both Israel News and Capital J; the White House released no information about the meeting between the two first ladies, other than the official photo, above, but the tea was noted on Mrs. Obama's official schedule.
Mrs. Obama has referred to Bo as her "son" in interviews, but human kids were the topic of conversation with Mrs. Netanyahu during the tea as well as World Cup Soccer and work life balance, which reportedly stretched from a sheduled half hour to a full hour.
Mrs. Obama, of course, is mom to Malia, newly 12, and Sasha, 8, while Mrs. Netanyahu has two sons: Avner, 15, and Yair, 19. As Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Netanyahu discussed the World Cup, the First Lady noted that both Malia and Sasha play soccer, and added that the series has been helpful in teaching them, and Americans as a whole, about the countries of the world (and perhaps about beer bets: President Obama made a special wager with British Prime Minister David Cameron over the England v. USA match).
Avner Netanyahu recently won a district-wide Bible Quiz competition in Jerusalem--which Mrs. Obama reportedly already knew. She also knew where Yair, who is currently serving in Israel's army, is stationed.
Since becoming First Lady, Mrs. Obama has frequently talked about work-life balance, and she heard about Mrs. Netanyahu's career as a child psychologist who works for the Jerusalem municipality. Mrs. Netanyahu has continued this even as her husband serves as Prime Minister.
After Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Netanyahu had tea, an Israeli official expressed surprise that Bo is allowed to run around the White House unleashed according to Capital J, which also noted that Bo, in vernacular Hebrew (בוא) means "Get over here." But Bo is very well trained, and now frequently accompanies the President and Mrs. Obama to public events.
As for the menu for the tea, and the President and Prime Minister's lunch: That's a State Secret. An official from the Israel Embassy said he was not aware if the Netanyahus keep kosher, and the East Wing declined to comment on either of the menus, or the kosher issue.
The White House video of the President and Prime Minister's meeting:
*Photos: President Obama, Vice President Biden and Mr. Netanyahu by Pete Souza/White House; Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Netanyahu by Samantha Appleton/White House; inset by Amos Ben Gershom/GPO
