Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met US Senator Lindsey Graham on Sunday to discuss Iran, Hezbollah and the war against Hamas in Gaza, the two announced in respective statements on X, formerly Twitter.
"Great discussion with Senator @LindseyGrahamSC about the importance of ongoing US support as we work to bring the hostages home, continue dismantling Hamas capabilities and defend our northern border against Hezbollah," Gallant said in a statement. He also thanked the senator for standing with Israel.
Great discussion with Senator @LindseyGrahamSC about the importance of ongoing U.S. support as we work to bring the hostages home, continue dismantling Hamas capabilities and defend our northern border against Hezbollah. Thank you Senator, for standing with Israel. pic.twitter.com/J5Lr3cq4ie
— יואב גלנט - Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) June 23, 2024
Senator Graham said that he emphasized to the defense minister that Iran should be given notice that "any Hezbollah attack that would overwhelm the Iron Dome or create an existential threat to the Jewish state will be considered an Iranian attack against Israel."
He called on the world to hold Iran accountable for the actions of its proxies and said that "if they [Iran] try to use Hezbollah to destroy Israel, we’re all coming after the Iranian regime."
Supplying weapons to Israel
Graham added, "I will work with my colleagues in the House and Senate to make sure there is congressional oversight of weapons delivery to Israel. The package to supply them weapons was supported by an overwhelming bipartisan majority, and the United States must provide these weapons accordingly."
In a video statement last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the US has been withholding weapons to Israel. The prime minister said that he told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, “It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition to Israel. Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks.”
The US rejected this claim that Washington is withholding weapons on Tuesday. Blinken confirmed that the US was still reviewing one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs that President Joe Biden had paused last month.
“But everything else is moving as it normally would move, and again, with the perspective of making sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against this multiplicity of challenges,” Blinken said.
Before his meeting with the US Senator, Gallant met with AIPAC heads Howard Kohr and Arne Christenson. Gallant said the purpose of this meeting was to discuss the ally-ship between the US and Israel.
Gallant took off for the United States Saturday night with the aim of meeting with top American foreign policy and defense officials, he announced before he left. He will remain in the US through Tuesday.
In Gallant's most most recent trip to Washington in late March, he met with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and met multiple times with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.