“Starting Over” — that was the headline that Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth gave to the meeting between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Nov. 9. It was accompanied by a photo of a formal handshake between the two men. Daily Maariv chose “Reconciliation Meeting” as its headline and featured a picture of the two leaders smiling. The other media, both print and digital, also described the summit meeting in terms that seemed overly positive. Channels 2 and 10 reported that the meeting had been conciliatory. Also, all media outlets stressed that the meeting went 45 minutes over its allotted time, indicating that the mood in the Oval Office was good.

In the end, however, the meeting between the two men — after over a year in which they did not see each other, and with their tense and fragile relationship hovering in the background — did not create any real headlines, or any interest at all for that matter. The only interesting thing was that it took place, which is in itself important.

Their past meetings took place as part of Netanyahu’s efforts to stop the Iran nuclear deal, and even involved him intervening in US politics. This created enormous interest and huge headlines about the crisis surrounding his relationship with Obama. This time, however, the visit was anti-climactic. The agreement with Iran is now a fait accompli and seen as something of a failure for Netanyahu and a victory for Obama. Given all of that, the Israeli prime minister was the last person in the world who wanted to bring up the issue, which he focused on so intently for two terms and which caused an unprecedented fissure in Israel-US relations.

Over the years, the Israeli media and public have gotten used to Netanyahu stoking the drama and making intimidating speeches about the Iranian nuclear program during all of his previous meetings with the president. These resulted in dramatic headlines and ongoing coverage of very tense and volatile meetings. This time, the press had to make do with a relaxed meeting without any surprises or any blaring headlines. Obama announced to the cameras that he was committed to Israel’s security, and Netanyahu kept reiterating his respect and appreciation for the American president. Nothing was out of the ordinary, apart from the fact that everything was said after a lengthy hiatus during which the two men did not meet.