Divided Isreal and U.S. Tangle Over Iran

Divided, Israel and U.S. tangle over Iran

(Reuters) - Ever since their first awkward encounter - a hastily arranged meeting in a custodian's office at a Washington airport in 2007 - Iran has been one of the few issues on which Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu have been able to find some common ground.

Nearly five years ago, neither man was yet in power but both hoped to be, and though they were very different politicians they grabbed the opportunity to size each other up when their paths crossed.

The Israeli right-winger came across, at first, as strident in his views, while the newly declared Democratic presidential candidate seemed wary. But when Netanyahu insisted on the urgent need to do more to isolate Iran economically and Obama said "tell me more," the mood suddenly brightened, according to one account of the meeting.

It was part of what Netanyahu, who first served as prime minister from 1996 to 1999, has described as a 15-year personal effort to "broaden as much as possible the international front against Iran," a foe that has called for Israel's destruction.