President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that he remains committed to diplomacy to block Iran’s nuclear ambitions despite the Jewish state’s demands for tougher action.
Biden made the comments on Friday at the White House as the two sat down for their first face-to-face meeting since Bennett was sworn-in as prime minister in June.
“We’re putting diplomacy first and seeing where that takes us,” Biden said during an Oval Office meeting that was delayed a day by the suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan. “But if diplomacy fails, we’re ready to turn to other options.”
Asked what other options Biden might be mulling, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki declined to comment.
The cordial meeting was the first since Bennett took power as the leader of a broad coalition that ousted longtime premier Benjamin Netanyahu.
Bennett told his Cabinet before the trip that he would tell the American president “that now is the time to halt the Iranians, to stop this thing” and not to reenter “a nuclear deal that has already expired and is not relevant, even to those who thought it was once relevant.”
Conversely, Biden wants to salvage the 2015 landmark pact negotiated by the Obama administration. But indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran have stalled and Washington continues to maintain crippling sanctions on the country as regional hostilities simmer.
Bennett expressed satisfaction that the two leaders were in sync on the notion that Iran should never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.
“Iran is the world’s number one exporter of terror, instability, and human rights violations,” Bennett said. “And as we sit here right now the Iranians are spinning their centrifuges in Natanz and Fordo. And we got to stop it, and we both agree.”
Biden stuck by his less-confrontational approach to Tehran, but seemed eager to express support for Bennett, who leads an extremely diverse coalition including radical right-wing Jewish nationalists and even an Arab party.
“The U.S. will always be there for Israel,” Biden told Bennett. “It’s an unshakeable partnership between our two nations.”
Biden and Bennett also have their differences. Bennett opposes the creation of a Palestinian state and supports the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, which Biden opposes.
The two sides played down the Palestinian issue Friday in an apparent attempt to avoid any public friction at this early stage of their relationship.
Given the poor prospects for progress in diplomatic talks with the Palestinians, both men appeared to be more interested in shoring up the new Israeli government in their first in-person talks.
With News Wire Services
