JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett left on Tuesday for his first state visit since taking office, a two-day trip to Washington to meet with President Joe Biden and discuss Iran.
The newly-appointed Prime Minister’s trip to Washington comes amid growing tensions between Israel and its arch-enemy, Iran. Israel is embarking on a renewed strike on its southern border with the Gaza Strip, just three months after the 11-day war with the Islamic militant group Hamas.
Bennett is due to meet Wednesday with White House officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, as well as Thursday with President Biden on their two-day visit.
In a statement issued by the Prime Minister on his departure before leaving, Bennett said the first step in negotiating with Biden would be Iran, “especially what happened two or three years ago in Iran’s nuclear program.” He said other issues would be discussed, including Israeli military expertise, the coronavirus epidemic and economic issues.
Mr Bennett spoke out against the possibility of a new deal between Iran and international powers, and said any agreement should also stop Iran’s violence. The past few months have seen several demonstrations of annexed war in Israel, believed to have been carried out by Iran.
Earlier this week, Bennett told his cabinet that he would tell the President “that now is the time to stop the Iranian people, to stop this thing from” going back “to a nuclear deal that has already expired and is not necessary, even for those who think it once was necessary.”
Bennett’s departure returned as tensions between Hamas officials in Israel and Gaza escalated. Direct negotiations between the two groups to implement a plan to rehabilitate the Gaza Strip were disrupted last week. Hamas has set fire to balloons in southern Israel and staged violent protests across the border, escalating violent protests a few months after the 11-day war that left at least 265 dead in Gaza and 13 in Israel.
“There is a new government in the US and a new government in Israel, and I am bringing from Jerusalem a new spirit of unity, and this is in line with the special and long-term relationship between the two countries,” Bennett said before leaving.
Bennett took office two months ago after negotiating a ruling to control eight different parties – from Judaism to a minority Islamist group – after ousting longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu following a fourth consecutive election in the country in two years.