Obama: US-Israel bond 'unbreakable'

US President Barack Obama said on 2 March that the US-Israel bond is "unbreakable", despite the President admitting the two nations have a "substantial disagreement" on how to prevent Iran from making nuclear weapons.

Obama said that Iran should commit to a verifiable freeze of at least 10 years on its nuclear activity for a landmark atomic deal to be reached, but said the odds were still against sealing a final agreement.

He said: "Well, first of all, I think it's important to realise the depth of the US-Israeli relationship. Under my administration, billions of dollars have gone to support Israel's security, including the Iron Dome program that has protected them from missiles fired along their borders.

"The military intelligence cooperation is unprecedented and that's not our estimation. That's the estimation of the Netanyahu government. And that bond is unbreakable. So we need to make clear from the outset how strong our alliance with Israel is.

"The second point is that we actually share a goal, which is making sure Iran does not have a nuclear weapon. That's something that I committed to when I was still a senator. It is a solemn pledge I made before I was elected president and everything that I've done over the course of the last several years in relation to Iran has been in pursuit of that policy.

"There is a substantial disagreement in terms of how to achieve that. And what it boils down to is what's the best way to ensure that Iran is not developing a nuclear weapon," he told Reuters.

Meanwhile, in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on 2 March, Netanyahu insisted that the US Israel ties are "stronger than ever" but warned that a nuclear deal with Iran could threaten Israel's survival, reported Reuters.