Israel and the United States are both determined to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its “aggression” in the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday following a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Speaking after a meeting with Rubio in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said they had held a “very productive discussion” on a number of issues, “none more important than Iran”.
“Israel and America stand shoulder to shoulder in countering the threat of Iran,” he said. “We agreed that the ayatollahs must not have nuclear weapons and also agreed that Iran’s aggression in the region must be rolled back.”
Rubio said: “Behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilising activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people that call this region home is Iran.”
Netanyahu said Israel had dealt a “mighty blow” to Iran over the past 16 months since the start of the war in Gaza against Hamas and said that with the support of Trump “I have no doubt we can and will finish the job”.
He said Israel had weakened the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon and had hit hundreds of targets in Syria to prevent a new Iranian-backed front opening up against Israel.
“Now, if any other force believes that Israel will permit other hostile forces to use Syria as a base of operations against us, they are gravely mistaken,” Netanyahu said.
Thanking Rubio for “unequivocal backing” for Israel’s policy in Gaza, Netanyahu said Israel and the United States under President Donald Trump shared a common strategy in the Palestinian enclave, where a fragile ceasefire is in effect between Israel and Hamas militants after 15 months of war.
“I want to assure everyone who’s now listening to us, President Trump and I are working in full cooperation and coordination between us,” he said.
Rubio added: “Hamas can not continue as a military or government force and as long as it stands as a force that can govern or administer or a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible.” (Reuters)
