Obama to meet Netanyahu today

US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are scheduled to meet in Washington today.

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet on Tuesday seeking to show they have turned the page on an unusually rocky period in relations between Washington and its close ally.

In their meeting, Obama is expected to pressurise Israel to extend the freeze on West Bank settlements. The freeze is due to expire in September after which a boom of construction is predicted in the area.

Visiting the White House for fence mending talks, Netanyahu is expected to get a warmer welcome than he did in March when Obama kept him at arms' length in what was widely perceived as a snub over Israeli settlement policy.

Expectations for a major breakthrough are low. But the meeting, postponed a month ago after a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, could be a test of whether Obama can overcome recent tensions with Netanyahu and work together to restart long suspended direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

The rare chill in US-Israel relations has thawed recently with Obama shifting to a gentler tone and Netanyahu offering conciliatory gestures. The two also have found common ground opposing Iran's nuclear program, which will be high on Tuesday's agenda.

Netanyahu has planned to assure Obama that he wants to upgrade indirect talks with the Palestinians to direct negotiations, something the president sees as vital to the goal of creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Obama is also expected to urge Netanyahu to consider further steps to loosen the flow of humanitarian aid and civilian goods to Gaza where he has deemed the situation unsustainable.