Nuclear deal sealed, Obama must now make it work -- and mend fences

He got started Friday even as the House was still voting by announcing that he would host Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel at the White House in November. The session will offer an opportunity for the estranged leaders to clear the air after a bitter and starkly partisan debate over the merits of the Iran deal and the depth of American commitment to Israeli security.

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The president will use the meeting to renew a longstanding offer of more military aid to bolster Israel’s defenses as Iran receives tens of billions of dollars in sanctions relief from the nuclear accord — money that the prime minister has argued will go directly to funding terrorism against his country. Until now, Mr. Netanyahu has refused to talk about strengthened security cooperation to avoid looking as if he were accepting the Iran deal…

“The deal has to now be embedded in a larger Iran strategy, and that is key to re-engaging and reinvigorating with allies and partners in the region,” said Michèle A. Flournoy, a former under secretary of defense for Mr. Obama and now chief executive of the Center for a New American Security in Washington.

The message from Mr. Obama, she added, should be “O.K., the nuclear piece, whether you were thrilled about it or not, is in place, but how are we going to work together to counter and deter Iran’s other activities in the region and its support for terrorism, and how are we going to reassure you with respect to your security?”

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