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By Julie Hirschfeld, New York Times–

WASHINGTON — President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel sought on Monday to move beyond their bitter rupture over the Iran nuclear deal, turning the page on a season of poisonous relations during a White House meeting that focused on collaboration over acrimony.

In a two-and-a-half-hour session that was more pragmatic than warm, Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu chose to highlight their shared goals of confronting Iranian misbehavior, countering terrorism, bolstering Israel’s security and strategizing over the crisis in Syria.

Mr. Obama said it was time to put aside their “strong disagreement” over the Iran deal, which he described as a “narrow” one that had been allowed to eclipse areas of common interest. He said the two sides should push forward to renegotiate a 10-year, multibillion-dollar package of military aid for Israel and to find ways to calm tensions that have set off a recent wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Speaking to Israeli reporters after the session, Mr. Netanyahu called it “one of the best meetings I’ve had with Obama,” describing it as devoid of tension. “The conversation was in very good spirits and very honest,” he said. “No one hid the disagreements between us. Rather, we focused on how to go forward.”

Privately, the president told the prime minister he would dispatch high-level aides to Israel next month to begin formal discussions on the security agreement, according to senior administration and Israeli officials.

“It was a forward-looking meeting,” said a senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to detail the Oval Office encounter, which was the leaders’ first meeting in more than a year. “There was obviously an awareness of past disagreements, including recent ones, and no attempt to paper over them, but also no attempt to rehash them on either side.”

Mr. Obama began the meeting by seeking to minimize his highly public dispute with Mr. Netanyahu over the Iran deal, reached in July, which would ease sanctions in exchange for steps to restrain Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“It’s no secret that the prime minister and I have had a strong disagreement on this narrow issue,” Mr. Obama said, seated beside Mr. Netanyahu. “But we don’t have a disagreement on the need for making sure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon, and we don’t have a disagreement about us blunting destabilizing activities in Iran that may be taking place.”

Instead of arguing over the merits of the Iran deal, as they had previously, the two leaders had a practical conversation about contingency planning should Tehran violate its terms. Mr. Netanyahu raised concerns about how quickly Iran might be able to reconstitute its nuclear capabilities after certain terms of the agreement have lapsed.

The meeting was in many ways a return to the cool, transactional manner in which Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu have long operated. Officials on both sides described it as “businesslike” and “cordial.” The president noted that he had met with the Israeli prime minister as many times as with any other foreign leader — a sign, he said, of the “extraordinary bonds” between their countries.

“It doesn’t mean that they have agreed on every issue, and it doesn’t mean that they are the best of friends,” said Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman. “But it does mean that they are able to work effectively together.”

Mr. Netanyahu, who choreographed his visit in part to mend fences with the Obama administration and Democrats who were alienated by his aggressive lobbying against the nuclear deal, did not mention the accord during a short appearance before reporters at the start of the meeting. He said he shared Mr. Obama’s goal of eventually resolving the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians with a two-state solution.

“I want to make it clear that we have not given up our hope for peace — we’ll never give up our hope for peace,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “And I remain committed to a vision of peace of two states for two peoples, a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state.”

It was a striking moment after a period of barbed statements and escalating discord that pushed the two leaders’ relationship — never warm — to the chilliest of lows. In March, amid the hostility, the Israeli prime minister declared on the eve of his re-election that there would be no Palestinianstate on his watch. The president later chided him publicly for the statement, and administration officials continued to criticize him even after he sought to publicly disavow it.

On Monday, the two leaders appeared resigned to their differences on the topic, with Obama administration officials having acknowledged in recent days that the prospects for negotiations on a two-state solution during Mr. Obama’s remaining 14 months in office were exceedingly remote.

The president, who has often coupled his denunciation of Palestinian violence against Israelis with strong statements of disapproval for Israel’s retaliation, stopped short of doing so in his meeting with Mr. Netanyahu, more pointedly taking his side in the recent bloodshed.

“I want to be very clear that we condemn in the strongest terms Palestinian violence against innocent Israeli citizens,” Mr. Obama said. “And I want to repeat once again, it is my strong belief that Israel has not just the right, but the obligation, to protect itself.”

Still, Mr. Obama did raise the issue of Israeli settlement activity with the prime minister, the administration official said, saying that it harmed the prospect for a two-state solution.

The leaders spent a substantial amount of time during their private meeting discussing the renewal of the 10-year package of United States military assistance to Israel, according to senior administration officials, although there was no commitment to bolstering American aid. Israel is said to be seeking $5 billion, a substantial increase from the roughly $3 billion agreement that expires in 2017.

Later, accepting an award from the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, Mr. Netanyahu acknowledged his disagreement with Mr. Obama on the Iran deal, but added, “That deal was signed.” He said his focus now was on its implementation, countering Iran’s misdeeds and dismantling its terrorist network.

Still, the prime minister suggested that it was naïve to expect the agreement to bring a shift to a more moderate leadership in Iran.

“It’ll be left to history to see if Iran will modernize and reform under this clique,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “I have my doubts. I hope I’m wrong; I suspect I’ll be proved right.”