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Visiting US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Yair Lapid met in Jerusalem on Thursday, the place they mentioned stopping Iran’s nuclear program and constructing a coalition of average nations within the Center East amongst a collection of problems with concern between the 2 nations.
“Sure, Mr. President, after all, we… additionally talked store, about Saudi Arabia and your journey there, which is extraordinarily vital to Israel — attempting to construct a extra average coalition right here within the Center East, lengthy wanted,” mentioned Lapid after the assembly, sitting beside Biden.
“We’ve mentioned the Iranian menace — and what we expect is the precise factor to do to be able to make certain, which is one thing we share, there might be no nuclear Iran. This isn’t solely a menace to Israel however to the [whole] world. And we mentioned another points we’re going to maintain to ourselves,” Lapid mentioned.
Biden mentioned the 2 leaders “talked about how vital it was from my perspective, for Israel to be completely built-in into the area, and full its integration.”
He emphasised that “the overwhelming majority of the American public, not simply my administration, is totally dedicated to your safety, with none if, ands or buts — with none doubts about it.”
Their one-on-one assembly, which ran over time, was adopted by broader talks that included advisers and different senior officers.
US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Yair Lapid meet with their respective staffs in Jerusalem, July 14, 2022 (Kobi Gideon / GPO)
The 2 leaders are anticipated to signal a joint declaration later Thursday that may embody the US administration’s backing for extending the large protection bundle Washington offers to the Jewish state, in keeping with a senior US official.
The $38 billion memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed in 2016 below the Obama administration when Biden was vp. The ten-year settlement went into impact two years later, so it isn’t even midway via its time, however such MOUs take time to barter and so are deliberate years upfront.
The senior US official briefing reporters Wednesday mentioned the joint declaration would “notice our ongoing help for [the 2016 MOU] and help for extending it at an applicable time.”
After their assembly, Lapid additionally joked that the 2 talked about baseball — an extended discuss regardless that he is aware of nothing about baseball, he mentioned. He additional quipped that “we didn’t even point out Iran or Saudi Arabia.”
The 2 then took half within the first digital assembly of leaders within the I2U2 group together with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Mohammed Bin Zayed.
The leaders introduced a pair of huge collaborative tasks within the fields of meals safety and clear vitality after their digital assembly, together with $2 billion for agricultural parks in India that Abu Dhabi will assist fund and that may use Israeli applied sciences.
The joint assertion mentioned the 4 nations would intention to “harness the vibrancy of our societies and entrepreneurial spirit to sort out a few of the best challenges confronting our world, with a specific concentrate on joint investments and new initiatives in water, vitality, transportation, house, well being and meals safety.”
The I2U2 nations additionally will make the most of their respective non-public sectors to advance low-carbon growth pathways, enhance public well being and entry to vaccines, collectively create new options for waste remedy, and promote the event of inexperienced applied sciences, the communique mentioned.
The nations burdened their help for Israel’s integration within the area, drawing a connection between the Abraham Accords normalization agreements and the formation of boards such because the I2U2. Additionally they welcomed different new regional groupings such because the Negev Discussion board, which consists of Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Egypt and the US.
Notably, the joint assertion makes no point out of the Palestinians. The US previously has pressed for the inclusion of a dedication to advance the two-state resolution in such paperwork, although it may need been outnumbered by the three different nations, whose leaders have expressed much less curiosity in publicly selling the difficulty.
An activist with the Israeli motion Ladies Wage Peace holds a banner at a rally in entrance of Jerusalem’s walled Previous Metropolis calling on President Joe Biden to place peace between Israel and the Palestinians on the agenda, in Jerusalem, Thursday, July 14, 2022. (AP Photograph/Ariel Schalit)
Biden and Lapid are scheduled to carry a press convention on the lodge, wherein they’ll area two questions from US journalists and two from Israeli reporters.
Biden’s day is then to proceed on the President’s Residence, the place he’ll meet privately with President Isaac Herzog at 4:45 p.m.
Whereas on the residence, Biden will maintain a 15-minute assembly with opposition chief Benjamin Netanyahu, after which Herzog will award Biden the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor in a festive ceremony.
The US president ends his day with Lapid on the opening ceremony of the Maccabiah Video games at 7:30 p.m.
On Friday, he’ll go to a hospital for Palestinians in East Jerusalem and meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem.
He’ll then fly on to Saudi Arabia to take part in a summit of regional Arab leaders often known as the GCC+3 earlier than returning to the US on Sunday.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report
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