Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett heads to Washington to discuss Iran with Joe Biden
- Bennett is expected to meet senior White House officials, including Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin on Wednesday, and Joe Biden on Thursday
- Bennett said the top priority in his conversation with Biden would be Iran and the possibility of a nuclear accord between Iran and world powers
The newly minted prime minister’s visit to Washington will come in the midst of heightened tensions between Israel and its regional arch-enemy, Iran. Israel is also grappling with a gradual resurgence of hostilities on its southern border with the Gaza Strip, barely three months after an 11-day war with Islamist militant group Hamas.
Bennett is expected on Wednesday to meet senior White House officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, and Biden on Thursday during his two-day snap visit.
In a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office before his departure, Bennett said the top priority in his conversation with Biden would be Iran, “especially the leapfrogging in the past two to three years in the Iranian nuclear programme.”
He said other issues would also be discussed, including the Israeli military’s qualitative edge, the coronavirus pandemic and economic matters.