Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday praised his talks with US President Barack Obama and also dismissed as "nonsense" reports of tensions in US-Israeli affairs. The Israeli online service ynet carried Netanyahu's remarks as he was flying from Washington to Paris, with the Jerusalem leader saying reports about tensions did not reflect reality.
With little information emerging from the substance of the talks between Obama and Netanyahu on Monday, the Israeli leader was cited as calling the atmosphere "very objective and very positive."
After the behind-closed-doors meeting, a brief White House statement had onlys said that Obama "reaffirmed our strong commitment to Israel's security, and discussed security cooperation on a range of issues ... Iran and how to move forward on Middle East peace."
Israeli media had criticized the fact that the Netanyahu meeting with Obama had not, as is usually the case, been planned well in advance. This was taken as a further sign of coolness shown by the US towards Israel.
Netanyahu has rebuffed Obama's calls for a complete freeze on settlement activity, including the expansion of current ones.
