Israeli and US government officials are hoping to patch up battered relations between the two countries when Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visits Washington this week, for meetings with Barack Obama and leading Democrats.  Related: Iran nuclear deal 'will be a farewell to arms control', Netanyahu tells Congress  In contrast to recent fiery clashes over the Iranian nuclear deal, the leaders will hold discussions over a $30bn military aid package to Israel and try to put their increasingly bitter disagreements behind them.  US officials played down hopes of progress toward a two-state solution to the Palestinian crisis. The White House is under pressure from liberal activists to show that it can influence Netanyahu on settlement activity.  “Obviously, there are occasions when we’ve had disagreements and that’s well known about this past year, particularly around the Iranian negotiations,” US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro told reporters in a briefing.  “But I think both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama are clearly focused in the meeting that we’re preparing for next week on looking forward, and in so doing, there’s a focus on a lot of areas of common interest and convergence.”  Unusually, the focus of the trip is less likely to be two leaders’ meeting at the White House on Monday than a visit by Netanyahu to the Center for American Progress (CAP), a leading liberal thinktank, on Tuesday.  CAP, which has extremely close ties to both the Obama administration and the Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign team, represents the heart of a Democratic policy establishment that Netanyahu needs to win back after his divisive speech to Congress in March.  That address, which was prompted by an invitation from the then speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, was seen by many Democrats as breaking a longstanding tradition of bipartisan support for the US-Israeli relationship.  Netanyahu’s speech to CAP – which will be accompanied by a similar visit to the rightwing American Enterprise Institute – may not be enough to mollify many liberal Americans who would like to see more concrete steps by the Israeli government to reach lasting peace with Palestinians.  “Because of the difference of opinion between Prime Minister Netanyahu and the US foreign policy establishment that supports a two-state solution, it is going to be hard to meaningfully bridge that divide,” said Dylan Williams of J-Street, a liberal Israel-American lobby group in Washington.  Even the Obama White House, which promoted talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders long after it appeared they had broken down, is gloomy about prospects.  “There will not be a comprehensive final status agreement in the remainder of [Obama’s] term, and there likely may not even be meaningful negotiations between the two sides,” said Rob Malley, a senior official on the National Security Council, in the White House briefing.  “Given that reality, which is a new one, how does the prime minister himself see Israel going forward, given its own interests in stabilizing the situation [and] in preventing the emergence of a one-state solution?”
Israeli prime minister will meet Obama and leading Democrats this week to discuss military aid after recent discord between the countries over Iran