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President Joe Biden and acting Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid have publicly expressed differing positions on how best to deal with threats from Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
The two leaders signed a joint security statement. Meanwhile, President Biden was in the West Bank city of Bethlehem today for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
President Biden met today with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank to express the American position on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Before the meeting, President Biden announced an aid package for medical facilities there.
“I am pleased to announce that the United States is providing an additional $100 million to support your hospitals and staff working for the Palestinian people.”
On Thursday, Israel honored the American leader with the Presidential Medal of Honor.
But earlier, President Biden and acting Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid disagreed on how to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
“Diplomacy will not stop them. The only thing that will stop Iran is that they must know that if they continue to develop a nuclear program, the free world will use force. The only way to stop them is a credible military threat.” said acting Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
President Joe Biden said a nuclear-weapon-free Iran is a “vital security interest” for the United States and Israel.
“I continue to believe that diplomacy is the best way to achieve this result,” said President Biden.
Israel rejected the 2015 deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Washington is trying to revive the agreement in several ways, including indirect talks in Vienna.
Tehran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and will be used for energy production.
After signing the Jerusalem Security Declaration, where President Biden and Prime Minister Lapid committed to never allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi reacted strongly.
“I tell the Americans and their regional allies that the Iranian nation will not accept any crisis or insecurity in the region and that any mistake made in this region will be met with a harsh and regrettable response,” he said. said the Iranian president.
To counter Iran, Washington is pushing for deeper ties between Israel and its Arab neighbors, including the process of integrating regional air defense systems.
“This means that each of the countries will have more time to react, more alternatives, which helps the United States to prevent conflicts because it has more time to act.” Professor Jonathan Rynhold, a specialist in Israeli-American relations at Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv, tells VOA.
On Thursday, President Biden and Prime Minister Lapid participated in the I2U2 virtual meeting, a new partnership between India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States to address food security and clean energy./VOA
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