Biden Informs Bennett of Resorting to 'Other Options' Against Iran
Iran
Washington - Elie Youssef, Nazir Magally
US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, in their meeting at the White House on Friday evening, that he would not allow Iran to become a nuclear state during his tenure, explaining that he was following diplomatic methods for this purpose. But Biden added that he had “other methods”, if his current approach failed. Bennett, for his part, thanked the US president for the American support for Israel in its defense of its existence, stressing his intention to establish close, coordinated and trust-based relations between the two sides, unlike his predecessor, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had a strained relationship with Biden and his administration. Biden said that Bennett was a great friend and praised his leadership of the most politically diverse Israeli government. He added that he informed the Israeli premier of Washington’s permanent and personal commitment to ensuring Israel’s security and military superiority, and working to strengthen the Iron Dome that protects it in the face of terrorist threats. The Israeli prime minister conveyed his condolences to the US soldiers who were killed on Thursday in Afghanistan, saying that his country would always stand with the United States. “We cannot lose sight for even one moment that we’re in the toughest neighborhood in the world. We’ve got ISIS on our southern border, Hezbollah on our northern border, Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Iranian militias that surround us. […] They all want to annihilate the Jewish State. And that’s why Israel always has to be overwhelming strong — overwhelmingly stronger than any of our enemies and, indeed, of all our enemies combined,” he stated. He continued: “I was happy to hear your clear words that Iran will never be able to acquire a nuclear weapon and that you emphasized that you’ll try the diplomatic route, but there’s other options if that doesn’t work out.” Bennett’s meeting with Biden was postponed for more than 30 hours, from Thursday to Friday afternoon, due to the US President’s preoccupation with the bombings in Kabul. A senior Israeli official revealed that the Israeli premier asked Biden not to withdraw his forces from Iraq and Syria, saying that this exit could serve Iran and enhance its presence. “Bennett made it clear that the presence of US forces in Iraq is vital to the strategic interests of the countries in the region and the United States, and the biggest evidence is that Iran and its proxies are exerting severe pressure on the Iraqi government, to expel US forces from the country,” since the killing of the commander of Al-Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani in a US raid near Baghdad in January 2020, according to the Israeli official. On Palestine, an Israeli source said that Bennett informed Biden of his understanding of the US position on the necessity of moving the peace process forward, but added that his government had some restraints, noting that Israel would not annex areas in the West Bank and would refrain from establishing new settlements except within the framework of meeting the needs of the natural population increase.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3157301/biden-informs-bennett-resorting-other-options-against-iran
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