WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Wednesday raised the tantalizing prospect that a new Arab alliance could resuscitate Israel’s moribund peace talks with the Palestinians, but President Obama responded with a familiar complaint — that Jewish settlements are the real problem.

In an Oval Office meeting that spoke to both the rapidly shifting landscape in the Middle East and the enduring realities of the peace process, Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu discussed how the militant group, Islamic State, was reshaping the region, with Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab states lining up with Israel against a common foe.

That new alignment, Mr. Netanyahu declared in a speech on Monday at the United Nations, could be the foundation for the renewal of the Palestinian peace negotiations, which fell apart in April over Jewish settlements and other disputes. It has also left the Israeli leader in an arguably stronger position in the region, if not internationally.

Administration officials, however, said they were unconvinced by Mr. Netanyahu’s suggestion that a coalition of Arab countries could succeed where direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians had failed. And Mr. Obama in his meeting with Mr. Netanyahu kept the spotlight squarely on the settlements, raising objections to Israel’s recent approval of plans for 2,610 housing units on geographically sensitive land in East Jerusalem. If the construction advances, a White House press spokesman said after the meeting, it would not only impede peace talks but poison relations with the very Arab countries with whom Mr. Netanyahu said Israel now had a “commonality of interests” against the militants.