House Speaker Paul Ryan, left, speaks with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on February 15, 2017. (AFP/ZACH GIBSON)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with senior congressional figures on a range of Middle East security issues Wednesday, hours after meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Netanyahu met with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Paul Ryan, House majority leader Kevin McCarthy, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi and House minority whip Steny Hoyer in a series of sit-downs.
“The prime minister discussed the issues of Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and the Palestinians,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
In a statement, Ryan said the two had spoken about “the need to hold Iran accountable for its actions, bolster Israel’s qualitative military edge, and push back against international efforts to delegitimize the Jewish state.”
“Prime Minister Netanyahu and I redoubled our commitment to strengthening the historic alliance between the United States and Israel,” Ryan said in the statement.
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No statements were issued from the other meetings, which were held behind closed doors.
Netanyahu also met with Republicans Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Bob Corker, who heads the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C), stands with members of the U.S. Senate, left to right, John Barrasso (R-WY), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Robert Casey (D-PA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and John McCain (R-AZ), during a meeting at the U.S. Capitol on February 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images/AFP)
On Thursday, Corker’s panel will grill Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, amid a flurry of criticism over Friedman’s support for Israeli settlement building and acerbic comments about left-wing Jews.
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Netanyahu is slated to meet with Vice President Mike Pence Thursday morning before boarding a plane back to Israel later in the day.
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