Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated Israel's determination to free all of our hostages, to dismantle Hamas' military and governmental capabilities, and to ensure that Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel.
Below is their statement:
Prime Minister Netanyahu:
"Minister Rubio, my dear friend Marco, it's great to welcome you in Jerusalem with your delegation. It is great to welcome you to Jerusalem as Secretary of State of the United States.
I have to say that this visit is a follow-up to the historic visit to Washington. I said, and I will say it again, because it is true: President Trump is the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House. And the visit to Washington reflected that in every way, and your visit here reflects that in every way.
Throughout your political career you have been a great supporter of Israel and a great supporter of the US-Israel alliance. I have no doubt that your unwavering support will continue during your tenure as Secretary of State. And I have no doubt that you will be a clear and courageous voice on the world stage for the values that we hold dear in Israel and you hold dear in America, the values of freedom for all who value freedom. You are already doing that, and I want to tell you that it is being heard loud and clear here and everywhere else.
Today, Minister Rubio and I had a very productive discussion with our staff on a number of issues. None of them is more important than Iran. Israel and America stand shoulder to shoulder in the fight against the threat of Iran. We agreed that the Ayatollahs must not have nuclear weapons, and we also agreed that Iranian aggression in the region must be contained.
Over the past 16 months, Israel has dealt the Iranian terrorist axis a powerful blow. Under President Trump's strong leadership and with your unwavering support, I have no doubt that we can and will finish the job.
We also talked a lot about Gaza. I thank Secretary Rubio for President Trump's help in securing the release of three more hostages yesterday. These are hostages that Hamas refused to release just days earlier. And I also thanked him for America's unequivocal support for Israeli policy in Gaza moving forward.
I want to assure everyone listening to us now that we are working with President Trump in full cooperation and coordination between us. We have a common strategy, and we cannot always share the details of that strategy with the public, including when the gates of hell will open, which will certainly happen if every last one of our hostages is not released.
Israel is determined to achieve all the war aims we set ourselves after the terrible attack of 7 October, the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. We will dismantle Hamas' military capability and its political rule in Gaza, bring home all our hostages and ensure that Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel. The unequivocal support of the United States on Gaza will help us achieve these goals more quickly and set us on the path to a different future.
Secretary Rubio and I discussed President Trump's bold vision for Gaza, the future of Gaza, and how we can work together to make that future a reality.
We also talked about the situation in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime, which was made possible by the weakening of the Iranian terrorist axis by Israel, in particular the weakening of Hezbollah and the removal of Nasrallah.
For more than a decade before October 7, Israel acted to prevent Iran from developing a new terrorist front, new terrorist fronts against us in Syria, right across the Golan Heights and deeper in Syria. And we have carried out hundreds of airstrikes, perhaps thousands, to prevent that. And we have succeeded. If any other force in Syria today believes that Israel will allow other hostile forces to use Syria as a base of operations against us, they are deeply mistaken. Israel will act to prevent any threat from arising near our borders in southwest Syria.
We also spoke with the Minister about Lebanon. Israel is committed to the ceasefire agreements reached in November. We expect the Lebanese Government to be equally committed to them.
The scenes we saw this weekend in Beirut, when UNIFIL troops were attacked by Hezbollah, were not encouraging. The two UN resolutions that everyone is referring to, 1559 and 1701, must be fully implemented. Hezbollah must be disarmed. And Israel would prefer the Lebanese army to do the job, but no one should doubt that Israel will do what it must do to enforce the ceasefire agreement and defend our security.
We also spoke with the Minister about how many international institutions have been hijacked and turned into anti-American and anti-Israel forums. We see this in the UN General Assembly, in the UN Commission on Human Rights, where anti-Americanism is rampant and where more UN resolutions are adopted on Israel than on the rest of the world put together. And we see it especially in the legal battle that is being waged against America and Israel in the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and elsewhere. The ICC blatantly vilifies Israel and issues arrest warrants based on outright lies. Like America, Israel is not subject to the jurisdiction of the ICC and does not recognise its jurisdiction.
Israel commends President Trump and his administration for renewing his executive order against the ICC and for moving quickly to impose sanctions on ICC officials.
The Minister and I discussed working together to formulate a joint strategy to deal with the threat of litigation and to neutralise this threat once and for all.
So these are some of the issues that we have discussed today. Believe it or not, there were more. Many more. We can say that the Middle East today has many opportunities, many challenges, and we think we can realise the opportunities and also face the challenges. And I have no doubt that by working together, America and Israel will overcome these challenges and seize the opportunities.
I have to say that I am absolutely convinced that under President Trump's leadership and working with you, Secretary Rubio, Marc, the best days of our alliance are yet to come.
Welcome to Jerusalem. Welcome, my friend."
The following are excerpts from a speech by US Secretary of State Rubio:
"It is an honour to be here again. I have been here many times before, as a visiting American and then as a member of the United States Senate, but now for the first time as Secretary of State of the United States. And I'm honored to be here and honored to serve in this role on behalf of President Donald Trump, who, as you accurately stated, Mr. Prime Minister, is a tremendous friend of Israel. There is no stronger ally of Israel in the White House than President Trump.
He is also a man who speaks clearly and unequivocally and expresses his views on issues clearly. He was the first to make it clear, and as you pointed out, that the hostages must go home. They must be released. And you are working very closely with him. He is working in very close coordination with the Prime Minister and his government to make sure that happens. That has to happen. It's not voluntary. And I would add that that is a goal that we share and that we work very closely together on.
The President also expressed his very courageous opinion on what the future of Gaza should be. It is not the same tired ideas of the past, but something new and bold, which frankly took courage and vision to outline. And it may have shocked and surprised many, but what cannot continue is the same cycle of repeating ourselves over and over again and ending up in exactly the same place.
In this context, the President has been very clear: Hamas cannot continue as a military or governmental force. And frankly, as long as it continues to act as a force that can govern, or a force that can administer, or a force that can threaten to use violence, peace will become impossible. It must be eliminated. It must be eradicated.
Iran is the biggest source of instability in the region. It is behind every terrorist group, every act of violence, every destabilising activity."
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