The President of the United States, Joe Biden, and the Prime Minister of Israel, Yair Lapid, in Jerusalem this Thursday. Photo: AP
US President Joe Biden promised Israel on Thursday that it will use “every element of its national power” to do so. prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Biden expressed that commitment in a joint statement he signed with Israel’s interim prime minister Yair Lapid.
In the statement, released by the White House, “the United States underlines its commitment never to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon and that it is willing to use all elements of its national power to ensure this result”.
The statement does not clarify whether Washington would be willing to resort to military means; but, in an interview broadcast this Wednesday on the Israeli Channel 12 news, Biden said he would be willing to use force against Iran if it develops a nuclear bombbut I would do it “as a last resort”.
Joe Biden and Yair Lapid, have expressed in writing the “indissoluble ties” between the United States and Israel. Photo: AP
In the text, moreover, the United States reaffirms its commitment to tackle “the aggressions and destabilizing activities of Iran”, both directly and through related groups, among which the text mentions the Lebanese Hezbollah or the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The Iranian nuclear program has become one of the protagonists of Biden’s visit to Israel, Tehran’s main enemy in the region and which opposes Washington’s return to the nuclear pact signed in 2015 and of which former President Donald Trump was released in 2018 ( 2017-2021).
The negotiations have stalled
Since 2021, the Biden government has been negotiating with Tehran indirectly through European mediation to relaunch the pact, but negotiations have been stalled since March and the White House is increasingly pessimistic about the possibility of an agreement.
On the other hand, the declaration reaffirms the US “bipartisan” and “sacrosanct” commitment to the security of Israel and promises that it will “strengthen” Israel’s ability to defend itself against any threat.
The US commitment to Israel’s security materialized in practice with the delivery of military aid.
In the document, Washington undertakes to keep the promise made in 2016 by the government of Barack Obama (2009-2017), in which Biden was vice president, to deliver aid worth 38,000 million dollars to the Jewish state between 2019 and 2028.
Biden is also committed ask Congress to approve more funding for air defense systems.
This year alone, the United States has allocated a billion dollars for the “Iron Dome” system, which Israel used to intercept rockets launched by Palestinians in the harsh confrontation of May last year.
A Palestinian protest against Joe Biden’s visit to the West Bank, scheduled for this Friday. Photo: REUTERS
Now, the Jewish state wants Washington to financially support a new laser-powered anti-aircraft defense system, the purpose of which is to shoot down missiles and drones before they hit Israeli soil.
The text also reaffirms “the indissoluble ties” that unite the two nations and expresses them concern about the situation in Ukraine.
This is the second day of Biden’s visit to Israel, the first stop on a short tour of the Middle East that will also take him to the West Bank on Friday, where he will meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
He will then travel to Saudi Arabia, on his first approach after the clashes over the murder in Turkey of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Source: EFE and AFP
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Source: Clarin
