Blinken Urges Calm in Jerusalem Meetings With Israeli Leaders, Heads Next to Ramallah
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning. They discussed US-Israeli security cooperation, threats from Iran and its allies and proxies, and the strengthening of security ties between Israel and its allies in the region.
Gallant thanked Blinken for the US administration’s support and commitment to preserving Israel’s qualitative advantage in the region. “Your visit to Israel comes at a critical time and sends a clear message to our adversaries and partners in the region: The US and Israel are united against the Iranian threat and against anyone who tries to destabilize the region. We completely agree with the fact that Iran must not be allowed to obtain military nuclear weapons,” Gallant said.
Later today, Blinken is scheduled to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.
On Monday, the secretary of state met with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, President Isaac Herzog, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
It was Blinken’s first meeting with Netanyahu since the veteran Israeli leader returned to office in December as head of a coalition of right-wing, far-right, and ultra-Orthodox parties, and follows the American secretary’s visit to Egypt.
On arrival in Israel, Blinken condemned the recent terror attacks in Jerusalem. “To take an innocent life in an act of terrorism is always a heinous crime,” he said, while cautioning that calls for vengeance “against more innocent victims are not the answer,” noting that “acts of retaliatory violence against civilians are never justified.”
In a joint appearance with Netanyahu, Blinken urged Israel and the Palestinians to “take urgent steps to restore calm and to de-escalate.”
“We want to make sure that there’s an environment in which we can, I hope, at some point, create the conditions where we can start to restore a sense of security for Israelis and Palestinians alike, which of course is sorely lacking,” he said.
Netanyahu, for his part, did not comment on the recent Israeli-Palestinian violence but referred to Iranian “aggression” and his desire to build on the 2020 Abraham Accords.
“Expanding the circle of peace [and] working to close the issue of the Arab-Israeli conflict, I think, would also help us achieve a workable solution with our Palestinian neighbors,” Netanyahu said.
Blinken responded that the US supports the normalization of ties between Israel and the surrounding Arab states but “these efforts are not a substitute for progress between Israelis and Palestinians.”
“As we advance Israel’s integration, we can do so in ways that improve the daily lives of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza,” he said.
