The Hill News

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday amid widespread unrest across the Muslim world.

The two senators huddled with Netanyahu in Israel, McCain said on his Twitter account.

{mosads}"@JoeLieberman and I met with Netanyahu today. We continue to stand with Israel at a time of historic change in the region," he wrote. 

Israelis have expressed worry over U.S. policy in the Middle East, especially since pro-democracy protests swept across the Muslim world. Weeks of demonstration! led to the toppling of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak this month, who upheld a peace treaty with Israel.

While Netanyahu and President Obama have had a cool relationship over the past two years, McCain and Lieberman have been closer to the Likud prime minister.

Obama has not yet visited Israel as president and has not met with Netanyhau on his home soil. Obama has met face-to-face with Netanyahu in the United States. The last time the two leaders spoke was on January 29.

But the U.S. government has had an open dialogue with Israel to discuss the state of the Middle East. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited the U.S. earlier this month to meet with top cabinet officials.

McCain a! nd Lieberman are on a five nation tour of the Middle East duri! ng this week's congressional recess. They visited Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia (which has also seen protests) and Egypt.

The two senators also visited the Palestinian territories, where they met with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.