US President Barack Obama has on Thursday congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his election victory earlier and emphasised the importance America places on its close military, intelligence and security cooperation with Israel, the White House said. The White House said in a statement that Obama had "reaffirmed the United States' long-standing commitment to a two-state solution that results in a secure Israel alongside a sovereign and viable Palestine". Relations between Netanyahu and Obama have been testy and problematic, given that the Israeli leader rejects the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear programme being headed by Washington and the White House is making those talks a priority. In addition, now a new controversy has arisen after Netanyahu on Monday appeared to change his commitment to a two-state solution to bring about Middle East peace between Israel and the Palestinians, something that the US has supported for two decades. "The president and prime minister agreed to continue consultations on a range on regional issues, including the difficult path forward to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," the statement said. Regarding Iran, Obama once again told the Israeli leader that the US is seeking to reach an overall agreement to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons and, at the same time, to be able to verify its exclusively peaceful nature.
