ROME (AP) Hush-hush diplomacy. In-person visits. Hush-hush diplomacy. In-person visits. And a very public no-surprises agreement on Iran.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid met in Rome on Sunday as their new governments look to turn the page on former President Donald Trump and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose close alliance aggravated partisan divisions within both countries.

Now, with Trump sidelined in Florida and Netanyahu leading the opposition, President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett are focused on pragmatic diplomacy rather than dramatic initiatives that risk fomenting opposition at home or distracting from other priorities.

In the past few years, mistakes were made, Lapid told Blinken as they sat down for talks in a Rome hotel. Israels bipartisan standing was hurt. We will fix those mistakes together.

Lapid said he had spoken with Democrats and Republicans since taking office and had reminded them all that we share Americas most basic, basic values freedom, democracy, free markets and constant search for peace.

Blinken noted that even though the two governments are new, the foundation that were working on is one of an enduring partnership, a relationship, friendship between the United States and Israel.

The push means aiming for smaller achievements, such as shoring up the informal cease-fire that ended last months war with Gazas militant Hamas rulers and replenishing Israels Iron Dome defense system. A major push to revive the long-dormant peace process between Israel and the Palestinians could unsettle the delicate balance.

Nobody thinks its a good idea to start charging through on a major new peace initiative, said Ilan Goldenberg, a Mideast security expert at the nonprofit Center for a New American Security. But there are things you can do quietly under the radar, on the ground, to improve the situation.

That approach of managing the conflict rather than trying to solve it may succeed in papering over domestic divisions. But it also maintains a status quo that the Palestinians find increasingly oppressive and hopeless, and which has fueled countless cycles of unrest.

The Americans and Israelis will try to work out differences away from the public, as in Bidens quiet diplomacy, when he privately urged Netanyahu to wind down the Israel-Hamas war ahead of a truce that took effect May 21.

We believe the way to discuss those disagreements is through direct and professional conversation, not a press conference, Lapid said.