Aide: Obama wants to seize chance on Mideast peace
Sunday, June 20, 2010
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's latest White House meeting with Israel's prime minister is set for July 6 -- more than a month after their last one was scuttled at the last minute.
Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo) had planned talks on June 1. But that fell apart after Israel's deadly raid May 31 on a flotilla hoping to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza.
The raid has strained U.S. and Israeli relations, and the White House has announced a $400 million aid package for Gaza and the West Bank.
Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, tells ABC's "This Week" that Obama has been clear about the need "to seize this moment of opportunity" to make peace -- addressing Israeli security and Palestinians' hopes for their own state.
