WASHINGTON - The US commitment to Israel remains strong, US President Joe Biden told Israeli President Isaac Herzog in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
“Our friendship with Israel is unbreakable…America’s commitment to Israel is firm, is ironclad,” Biden said, adding that he said the same to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone on Monday.
The US president also emphasized America’s commitment to ensuring Iran does not attain a nuclear weapon.
Biden noted that his administration played a role in getting Saudi Arabia to open its airspace to Israeli flights, and said there is “a lot more work to do” in that vein.
Herzog expressed gratitude in the name of the Israeli people to Biden for his support for Israel for half a century, and for working on further normalization between Israel and Arab states.
“There are some enemies of ours that sometimes mistake the fact that we have some differences as impacting our unbreakable bond,” Herzog said. “I truly believe that if they would know how much our cooperation has grown in recent years and achieved new heights, they would not think that way.”
Herzog: Judicial reform debate a 'tribute' to Israeli democracy's greatness
The Israeli president also remarked on the judicial reform debate, on a day of mass protests in Israel.
“We are going through a heated debate as a society…it is also a tribute to the greatness of Israeli democracy,” he stated. “Israeli democracy is sound, strong and resilient…We shall always seek to find an amicable consensus… I am pursuing that even in these very moments through my people as much as we can, in order to find solutions and exit out of this crisis properly.”
Biden told Herzog behind closed doors that it is important to reach broad agreement in the judiciary and the discord in Israel makes regional processes more difficult, a source with knowledge of the meeting said.
Biden told Herzog behind closed doors that there is a “need for a consensus-based approach to the judicial reform package,” the White House stated. A source with knowledge of the meeting said that Biden said the domestic discord in Israel makes its integration in the region more difficult.
The presidents met one-on-one for about 40 minutes and another 20 minutes together with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
Herzog and Biden discussed “enhanced coordination to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and Iran’s growing defense partnership with Russia,” the White House readout stated.
In light of the recent spike in terrorism in the West Bank, Biden also said that Israel has the right to defend itself. He also spoke out against incidents of Israeli violence against Palestinians, a source with knowledge of the meeting said.
According to the White House, Biden “reiterated his commitment to maintaining a path for an negotiated two-start solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” and “the need to take additional measures to improve the security and economic situation in the West Bank.”
The presidents also discussed cooperation on technology-based solutions to climate change, pandemics and food insecurity, as well as the US National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, the White House said.
During the meeting, Biden displayed the Medal of Honor Herzog gave him last year, saying he is proud of it, the source said.
The presidents met one-on-one for about 40 minutes and another 20 minutes together with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
Herzog and Biden discussed the need to cooperate to counter the Iranian threat, a source with knowledge of the meeting said.
In light of the recent spike in terrorism in the West Bank, Biden also said that Israel has the right to defend itself. He also spoke out against incidents of Israeli violence against Palestinians, the source said.
During the meeting, Biden displayed the Medal of Honor Herzog gave him last year, saying he is proud of it.
Following the meeting with Biden, Herzog said that he feels at home in Washington because the US and Israel have “family ties.”
“That is the reason for the mutual concern for what happens in the US and Israel…about the Iranian threat terror but also what happens inside Israel,” Herzog said. “It’s not just to complain. It’s out of deep concern by many of our friends, and it’s another consideration for us as a nation.”
A small group of demonstrators gathered by Lafayette Square across from the White House ahead of Herzog’s visit, with some protesting the judicial reform and waving Israeli flags and others waving Palestinian flags.
Herzog’s visit to the White House came amid heightened tensions between Washington and Jerusalem. Biden called the current cabinet the “most extreme” he has ever seen in an interview with CNN last week, citing its ministers’ support for Israeli Jews living in Judea and Samaria. His administration has also commented on the government’s judicial reform plan, calling for any changes to the judiciary to be passed by consensus and for the rights of protesters to be respected. In addition, the sides are at loggerheads over their approaches to the Iranian nuclear threat.
After over publicly declining to invite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House twice in light of his government’s makeup and policies, Biden and Netanyahu spoke on the phone on Monday evening. The Prime Minister’s Office readout said that the president invited him to meet “in the United States,” which could mean a meeting at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September. The White House readout did not mention a future meeting.
Ambassador to the US Mike Herzog, the president’s brother, tested inconclusive for COVID-19 and was not permitted to enter the Oval Office.
Herzog is also set to give an address to both Houses of Congress, marking 75 years of Israel’s independence. He will be the second Israeli president to do so, following his father, Chaim Herzog, in 1987.
Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Jamaal Bowman of New York, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota said they would be boycotting Herzog’s speech, and several other progressive members of Congress had yet to decide if they would attend. The progressive lobby on Israel issues, J Street, encouraged all members of Congress to attend, calling Herzog “a partner of J Street and supporters of Israel, peace and democracy.”
The Israeli president was scheduled to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as with members of the Congressional Black Caucus at the National Museum of African American History and Culture after press time on Tuesday, and with US Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday.
The president will travel from Washington to New York City to meet with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and New York Mayor Eric Adams.
The local Jewish Federation will host an event at which Herzog will meet young leaders, which he said reflects his “actions to build bridges between Israel and Diaspora Jewry.”
Herzog invited Leah Goldin to accompany him on the trip. Goldin is the mother of Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed in battle with Hamas during Operation Protective Edge. The terrorist group has held her son’s body captive since 2014.
Following the meeting with Biden, Herzog said that he feels at home in Washington because the US and Israel have “family ties.”
“That is the reason for the mutual concern for what happens in the US and Israel…about the Iranian threat terror but also what happens inside Israel,” Herzog said. “It’s not just to complain. It’s out of deep concern by many of our friends, and it’s another consideration for us as a nation.”