Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and US President Joe Biden met at the White House yesterday (Friday, 27 August 2021) for their first diplomatic meeting. Following is Prime Minister Bennett's statement to the media:

 

"First of all, on behalf of the Israeli people, I want to extend our condolences and deep sadness for the loss of American lives in Kabul. American service members lost their lives while on a mission to save other people’s lives. That is the very definition of courage and sacrifice. May they rest in peace. Especially on this day I want to be crystal clear:  Israel always stands together with the United States of America, unequivocally.

 

“I also want to thank you for your words now and in our private meeting, which attest to your support of the State of Israel. But that's not new, it’s been decades and you've always stood up for us, especially during tough times, like a few months ago, when thousands of rockets were being shot on Israeli towns and cities, and that's when friendship is really tested. We trust in your support, Mr. President. And Israel knows that we have no better or more reliable ally in the world than the United States of America.

 

“I come here from Jerusalem, our eternal capital, and I bring with me a new spirit, a spirit of goodwill, a spirit of hope, a spirit of decency and honesty, a spirit of unity and bipartisanship of folks who harbor very different political opinions, even opposing ones, yet we all share the deep passion to work together to build a better future for Israel. And that's what Israel is about. We're out to be good, to do good.

 

“But in our region, doing good is not enough. Israel has to be strong in order to do good. Be strong so we can do good.

 

“We cannot lose sight for even one moment that we're in the toughest neighborhood in the world. We've got ISIS on our southern border. Hezbollah on our northern border, Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Iranian militias that surround us. All of them want to kill us, kill Israelis. They all want to annihilate the Jewish state.

 

“And that's why Israel always has to be overwhelmingly stronger than any of our enemies, and indeed, of all our enemies combined.

 

“That's why I want to thank you, Mr. President, for helping yet again to fortify Israel's strategic advantage.

 

“Obviously, the main issue we're going to be talking about today here is Iran's race to a nuclear weapon. We talked about it inside the room, and I was happy to hear your clear words that Iran will never be able to acquire nuclear weapons and that you emphasized that you will try the diplomatic route, but there are other options if that doesn't work.

 

“These very days illustrate what the world would look like if a radical Islamic regime acquired a nuclear weapon. That marriage would be a nuclear nightmare for the entire world.

 

“Iran is the world's number one exporter of terror, instability and human rights violations. As we sit here right now, the Iranians are spinning their centrifuges in Natanz and Fordow.  We have got to stop them, and we both agree about that. So we have developed a comprehensive strategy that we're going to be talking about with two goals. The first goal is to stop Iran’s regional aggression and start rolling it back into the box. And the second is to permanently keep Iran away from ever being able to break out to a nuclear weapon.

 

“As I told you, Mr. President, Israel never has and never will ask America to send troops to defend it. That's our job. We will never outsource our security. It's our responsibility to take care of our fate. But, we do thank you for the tools and the backing you've been and are giving us.

 

“You said we're also going to be talking about Covid and the Delta variant, which is wreaking havoc across the world. You were the first to call the pandemic the 'pandemic of the unvaccinated', and that could not be more true. Just about a month ago, I made a very tough decision, a policy decision that Israel would pioneer the booster shot, the third shot. I can report to you, Mr. President, to everyone, that we've reached almost two million Israelis that have received the booster shot, and the bottom line is it's safe and it works. The good news, finally, is that the tide is turning in Israel.

 

“And one last word, Mr. President, you are a man of faith, as I am. In synagogues across the world we read the biblical portion beyond the 'parshah' called the 'haftarah' . And tomorrow, we're going to be reading words of the prophet Isaiah [60:3]​:

 

“In Hebrew the words are: 

 

'שאי סביב עינייך וראי, כולם נקבצו ובאו לך. בניך מרחוק יבואו ובנותייך על צד תאמנה'

 

“What this means is the sons and daughters of the Jewish people are going to come back to our land, are going to nurse our ancient land and rebuild it. This ancient Jewish prophecy is today's reality in Israel. It's a miracle that you've been so central and such a central part of it for so many years.

 

“Mr. President, today you and I – and you've been so generous with your time in these difficult days – you and I are going to write yet another chapter in the beautiful story of the friendship between our two nations, the United States of America and the Jewish and democratic State of Israel. Both of us seek to do good and need to be strong; both of us are a lighthouse in a very, very stormy world.

 

“Thank you, Mr. President. I look forward to working with you now and for many years forward."