America’s commitment to Israel is ironclad, Biden tells Herzog at White House
The US president also emphasized America’s commitment to ensuring Iran does not attain a nuclear weapon.
The US commitment to Israel remains strong, US President Joe Biden told Israeli President Isaac Herzog in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
“Our friendship with Israel is unbreakable…America’s commitment to Israel is firm, is ironclad,” Biden said, adding that he said the same to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone on Monday.
The US president also emphasized America’s commitment to ensuring Iran does not attain a nuclear weapon.
Biden noted that his administration played a role in getting Saudi Arabia to open its airspace to Israeli flights, and said there is “a lot more work to do” in that vein.
Herzog expressed gratitude in the name of the Israeli people to Biden for his support for Israel for half a century.
“There are some enemies who think we have some differences shaking our ironclad bond,” Herzog said. “If they knew how our security cooperation has grown in recent years and reached new heights, they wouldn’t think that way.”
The Israeli president also remarked on the judicial reform debate, on a day of mass protests in Israel.
“The heated debate we are going through in our society.. is a tribute to the greatness of Israeli democracy,” he stated. “Israeli society is strong and resilient. I truly believe we should always seek to find an amicable consensus…I am pursuing it even in these very moments.”
A small group of demonstrators gathered by Lafayette Square, across from the White House, ahead of Herzog’s visit, with some, protesting the judicial reform, waving Israeli flags and others waving Palestinian flags.
Herzog’s visit to the White House came amid heightened tensions between Washington and Jerusalem. Biden called the current cabinet the “most extreme” he has ever seen in an interview with CNN last week, citing its ministers’ support for Israeli Jews living in Judea and Samaria. His administration has also commented on the government’s judicial reform plan, calling for any changes to the judiciary to be passed by consensus and for the rights of protesters to be respected. In addition, the sides are at loggerheads over their approaches to the Iranian nuclear threat.
After over publicly declining to invite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House twice in light of his government’s makeup and policies, Biden and Netanyahu spoke on the phone on Monday evening. The Prime Minister’s Office readout said that the president invited him to meet “in the United States,” which could mean a meeting at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September. The White House readout did not mention a future meeting.
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-750528