Vice President Joe Biden appears to have let slip that he and President Barack Obama will be meeting soon with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who’s been the White House’s chief antagonist and opponent on the Iran deal-even as he declared victory on the fight.

And David Cameron has backed Israel, saying it was taking “proportionate action to defend itself” against Hamas rockets.

On the other side were approximately 100 pro-Israeli demonstrators, with many of them waving the Israeli flag.

“In these talks I explain one thing: Europe needs to support Israel, not pressure Israel and not attack Israel, but support Israel, which is the only true protection Europe has in the Middle East against surging extremist Islam”, he said in a statement released to Newsweek by the Israeli embassy in the United Kingdom . “But the fact that the leaders of these two countries can come together and have a conversation and have an in-person meeting reflect the commitment from the leaders of both countries to the strength of this relationship”.

British PM David Cameron (L) and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu meet in London in May 2011. Seventy-three Israelis, nearly all soldiers, were killed.

“I think we exhausted our differences regarding various global issues – not about the Iranian issue – but about Israel’s ties with the worldwide community”, he said. The European Union views the West Bank settlements as illegal and an obstacle to a peace deal with the Palestinians, while Israel contends such regulations would be discriminatory. The illegal settlements they live in continue to expand under Mr. Netanyahu’s government, in an ongoing acquisition of Palestinian territory which is war by another name.

However the human rights campaign group, Amnesty worldwide , yesterday called on Mr Cameron to alter the UK’s foreign policy on Israel and tell Mr Netanyahu to stop using “security concerns” as an “excuse to collectively punish, impoverish and humiliate 1.8 million people in Gaza“.

Iran was also on the agenda at Thursday’s meeting, with Netanyahu reiterating his criticism of the nuclear deal agreed with Western powers in July as he touched down in the British capital on Wednesday.

His arrival at Number 10 was not met with a repeat of the protests seen outside the gates of Downing Street on the eve of the trip.