BICOM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves for Washington tonight and will meet with US President Barack Obama tomorrow to discuss a wide range of regional issues, from the Arab uprisings, to the killing of Osama bin Laden and the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. According to sources close to Netanyahu, the prime minister will also stress the significance of putting the Iranian nuclear programme back on the agenda as a priority. While the US is seeking to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the Israeli prime minister’s intention is to bring this topic to the forefront of the agenda. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon stressed the US stance last Thursday in a speech saying, “President Obama has long understood the regional and international consequences of Iran becoming a nuclear weapons state. That is why we are committed to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.”

Media reports suggest that President Obama’s Middle East speech that he will deliver today plans declare billions of dollars of aid to Middle East counties to support democracy. It will be President Obama most important speech on the Middle East since Cairo 2009 and comes amid criticism that the US has been slow to react to the Arab uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. The speech will look at the changes that occurred in the Middle East since the winding down of the Iraq war and the death of Osama bin Laden and will focus on supporting democracy through economic reform.