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Netanyahu pledges his leadership of ‘historic alliance’ with the US

February 14, 2017 at 11:24 am

Benjamin Netanyahu promised on Monday to achieve and lead a “historic alliance” with the United States. The Israeli prime minister made his comments in a press conference before boarding his plane to Washington.

“I am now leaving for a meeting of the utmost importance in Washington,” he declared. “There, I will meet with US President [Donald] Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and leaders of Congress and the Senate.”

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Although the alliance between Israel and the US was always extremely strong, he said, it is about to get stronger. “President Trump and I see eye to eye on the threats and the opportunities in the region. We will speak about the two points and about enhancing the strong alliance in a large number of fields.” One of the threats, he added, is the Iranian nuclear programme.

According to Israeli website Ynet News, Netanyahu repeated what he told his cabinet on Sunday. “I will lead and I will direct. That is what I intend to do — to lead and direct the historic alliance for the good of our national interests and for the good of the citizens of Israel.”

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The prime minister warned that dealing with Trump is not easy, noting that there are “limits” for him regarding the Israeli-Palestinian issue. However, he insisted that the new president is better than his predecessor Barack Obama. “Indeed, it is true that it will be more comfortable for Israel but anyone who thinks that there will not be limits is mistaken,” he explained.

Ynet News said that Netanyahu did not answer when asked if he still supports the establishment of a Palestinian state. The website noted that this could be because his previous promise became “worthless” due to the new measures related to settlements.