From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Senior Israeli official denies any ‘reassessment’ of US-Israel relationship by Biden
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
After New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman warned in a column that the Biden administration is reassessing its ties with Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, a senior Israeli official says in a statement that “we are not aware of any decision about ‘reassessment’ by the US government.”
The official also says that even if Biden were reassessing ties, it would not be anything new in the history of the bilateral relationship, pointing at ostensibly similar decisions by Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush.
“It is not secret that we have disagreements with the US government around establishing a Palestinian state, returning to the dangerous nuclear agreement with Iran, and PM Netanyahu’s stance against the ‘no surprises’ policy around Israeli actions against Iran.”
The official stresses that “the ties between Israel and the US have grown close over the course of decades, and security cooperation has reached an all-time high under Prime Minister Netanyahu’s leadership.”
“Prime Minister Netanyahu will make sure this trend continues.”
The official does not mention US President Joe Biden by name in the statement.
The Times of Israel Community.