Top Israeli, US officials meet at White House, after weeks’ delay due to Netanyahu criticism

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

Top US and Israeli officials held a meeting at the White House earlier today focused on combating the threats posed by Iran, according to a US readout.

It was the latest gathering of the US-Israel Strategic Consultative Group. It was supposed to meet last month, but the US postponed the sitdown after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly accused the Biden administration of withholding weapons from Israel.

The US team was headed by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and the Israeli team was headed by National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. They were joined by senior representatives from their respective foreign policy, defense and intelligence agencies.

Hanegbi and Dermer held a smaller meeting just with Blinken earlier today as well.

During the Strategic Consultative Group, “Sullivan affirmed President [Joe] Biden’s ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, including in the face of ongoing and reckless attacks against Israel by Lebanese Hezbollah. He emphasized that Israel has every right to defend itself against these attacks, and affirmed US support for a diplomatic resolution that permits Israeli and Lebanese families to safely and securely return to their homes,” the White House readout says.

“They also discussed developments with respect to Iran’s nuclear program, and discussed mutual coordination on a series of measures to ensure that Iran can never acquire a nuclear weapon,” the readout continues.

The sides discussed ongoing efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal, with the Israeli side reaffirming its support for the proposal laid out by Biden in May.

Netanyahu said Saturday that he hasn’t moved a “millimeter” away from the Biden-backed Israeli proposal.

However, he listed a series of new demands that appeared to go further than what was written in the text of the proposal obtained by The Times of Israel.

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