After their private meeting, Blinken and Lapid made joint statements. Anthony Blinken referred extensively to the Ukrainian crisis and praised the mediation efforts of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
He also referred to Iran's regional policy, stressing that "in addition to seeking to develop its nuclear program, it is adopting a range of destabilizing actions," while condemning armed attacks by Houthi rebels in the Arabian Peninsula.
"The United States will continue to confront Iran anytime it threatens us or our allies and partners," he said, defending the pursuit of an agreement with the Tehran government to "put the Iranian nuclear program back into context. Finally, Anthony Blinken said that the US is committed to expanding regional cooperation within the framework of the Abrahamic Accords between Israel and the Arab world.
Countering the US Secretary of State, his Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid, stressed that the relationship between Israel and the US is unbreakable. Referring to Iran's policy in the region, he stressed that "Iran is not an Israeli problem. The international community must not tolerate a nuclear Iran, nor the Revolutionary Guards who continue to spread terrorism globally."
He went on to say that "we have disagreements over the agreement on Iran's nuclear program and its implications, but Israel and the US will continue to work together to prevent an Iranian nuclear threat. At the same time, however, Israel will do whatever it believes is necessary to stop the Iranian nuclear program. Whatever. For us, the Iranian threat is not theoretical. The Iranians want to destroy Israel. They will not succeed. We will not let them."
Blinken is expected to meet with Israeli President Ishtak Herzog, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Beni Gants before heading to Ramallah to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. In the late afternoon, he will travel to Sde Boker, in the Negev desert of southern Israel, to participate in a six-party conference with his counterparts from Morocco, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, under the auspices of the Israeli Foreign Minister.
Two hours after the joint Blinken-Lapid statements, the Israeli Prime Minister announced that Israel will establish five new Jewish settlements in the Negev desert.
[/P]Source: KYPE
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