Photo: Likud spokeswoman
During a visit by the President of the United States to the President’s House in Jerusalem, which included a meeting with President Yitzhak Herzog, the President of the Great Power met with the chairman of the Likud and his friend for decades, the chairman of the opposition, MK Benjamin Netanyahu. The meeting lasted more than a quarter of an hour, a length of time similar to the Biden-Lapid meeting, after which Netanyahu went out and gave a statement to the media that were waiting there.
The Likud spokeswoman noted as an achievement that the meeting was actually held for more than twenty minutes, instead of a quarter of an hour as originally planned in the minutes. In a statement to the media waiting outside, Netanyahu described the meeting with President Biden: “I now had a warm, excellent meeting with US President Joe Biden. I thanked him for the deep personal friendship between us and his really firm commitment to the State of Israel, and also for the fact that when I asked for the addition of the Iron Dome during the last operation in Gaza he completed the mission and did so. It was not easy”.
“He has supported us in many things over the years. We have been friends for about forty years, but to secure the next forty years we must address the Iranian threat. We need one thing, and I told him that: economic sanctions and not even a military defensive organization against Iran are not enough. “I need an offensive military option against Iran. I think the agreement is bad, I told him that, but I think without a credible military option it is impossible to deter Iran.”
“This is my position, this is my commitment, and I very much hope it is also the American position. Biden said he agrees and I was glad to hear that. That is what I will do if and when I return to the Prime Minister’s Office. The meeting was good and friendly anyway. “Especially about the global system and the challenges facing the United States and Israel,” he concluded.
Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the President’s House for a meeting with President Biden along with his Chief of Staff Tzachi Braverman and former Israeli Ambassador to Washington Ron Drummer. Drummer’s participation has been criticized for his controversial figure, as he was an undesirable figure in the White House and during the tenure of former President Barack Obama. The meeting itself began a few minutes late.
Photos: Raanan Cohen