At a meeting in Rome, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Israel has ”serious reservations” about the American administration’s desire to re-enter the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
“We believe the way to discuss those disagreements is through direct and professional conversations, not in press conferences,” Lapid said, as indirect negotiations continue between the U.S. and Iran in Vienna.
The new government led by Prime Minister Bennett and Lapid is strongly opposed to the Biden Administration’s efforts to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
But Lapid said that whatever their disagreements with the Biden administration on this issue, he plans to address them behind closed doors and not through press conferences.
Regarding Iran, Blinken said: “We have the same objectives, but sometimes we differ on the tactics, and I think we are very clear and direct with each other when that is the case, and that is exactly the way it’s supposed to be.”
He also stressed Washington’s support for expanding the Abraham Accords that saw Israel normalize ties with several Arab countries last year. At the same time, Blinken said: “I think we’ve also discovered, or perhaps rediscovered, that as important as they are, as vital as they are, they are not a substitute for engaging on the issues between Israelis and Palestinians that need to be resolved.”
“I look forward to working with you to widen the circle of peace in our region,” Lapid said. “That is the best way to bring stability and prosperity to the Middle East.”
Blinken spoke of the ”enduring partnership, relationship, friendship between the United States and Israel” which, he said, ”is based on a set of shared values and shared interests.”
In the Italian capital, Lapid also met with Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al-Zayani. “We spoke at length about the normalization process in the Middle East and the need to expand it to cooperate with additional countries,” the Israeli Foreign Minister said after the meeting. “Peace with Bahrain should be an example for the correct process that must occur in our region.”
On Tuesday Lapid is to visit the United Arab Emirates, the first such visit by an Israeli minister to the Gulf state.