Opposition leader against US Secretary of State
Anthony Blinken said last night (Wednesday) at a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid that "we are advancing the process of opening the consulate in Jerusalem as part of strengthening our ties with the Palestinians," Benjamin Netanyahu criticized him and Prime Minister Naftali "And again the Bennett government 'contains', even when it comes to the division of Jerusalem as our capital," the opposition chairman wrote on Twitter.
"The State of Israel must oppose this in every way!"
If such an American move is indeed taken, it could severely hurt the Bennett-Lapid government.
Justice Minister Gideon Saar stressed yesterday at the Jerusalem Post conference that he does not accept the US demand to open a consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem "under any circumstances." He said, "I want to be very clear.
We oppose it.
I have heard it said that the president's bondage is an election promise.
For us, this is the promise of the generations. "
Foreign Minister Lapid in a message to Iran and the world: "Israel reserves the right to act whenever it wants" / Photo: State Department website
Last night, Lapid and Linken held a tripartite meeting with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah Ben-Zaid.
During the meeting, Lapid said: "At the center of my visit here is the concern from Iran's race for nuclear capability. Iran is becoming a nuclear threshold country. Every day that passes, every further drag of negotiations, brings Iran closer to a bomb."
Foreign Minister sent a message to Iran and the world: "Israel reserves the opportunity and the right to act against the Iranian nuclear program at any time, in any situation and in any way. This is not only our right, but our duty. ".
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
On the normalization agreements, he added: "We are writing a new chapter in history. It is a moderate alliance that deals with life in the hope of optimism in looking ahead. I thank you both for this alliance, for the membership, it inspires hope worldwide. This partnership is not only between Jews and Arabs "Citizens of the world who want to be partners in the fight against the climate crisis, against poverty, against the epidemic that has already claimed the lives of millions of people."
Secretary of State Blinkan said during the meeting that "relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates are thriving. We support the historic agreements and are committed to continuing to push for more agreements. Normalization should be a force for progress in the region and between Israel and the Palestinians."
Foreign Minister Lapid, US Secretary of State Blinken and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Ben-Zaid, Photo: AP
On the Iranian issue, he added: "Although we have made it clear that we are ready to return to the nuclear deal, we see hints from Iran that they do not want to. Time is running out. We may reach a point where there is no point in returning to the nuclear deal.
"We want to return to talks. If Iran has a sensible position, it will be possible to return to the nuclear agreement. But the time for that is getting shorter and we will be ready to move on to other options if Iran does not change direction."
UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah Ben-Zaid said: "We are pleasantly surprised by our growing relations with Israel."
Referring to the Israeli-Palestinian issue, Ben-Zayed said he was "excited to see that in recent weeks Israeli ministers have met with the Palestinian Authority chairman."
Foreign Minister Lapid and Secretary of State in Linken, Photo: Shlomi Amsalem
At the same time, Secretary of State Lapid met yesterday with US Vice President Kamla Harris.
The foreign minister said, among other things: "The center of my visit is the Iranian nuclear issue, but it also deals with one other thing: strengthening the partisan connection with the next generation of young Americans. This generation is concerned not only with wars and conflicts, but also with the climate crisis, the global immigration crisis "On questions of identity."
