Netanyahu: Iran to top agenda during Washington visit

Netanyahu’s upcoming visit to Washington comes amid continued strategic coordination with the Trump administration following recent tensions with Iran and as the two allies discuss broader regional issues

By JNS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would be discussing “all pending issues,” including the Iran war, during his visit to Washington this week.

“Tomorrow I will fly to Washington to meet, at his invitation, with President Trump,” Netanyahu said in opening remarks ahead of a government meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday.

The premier said he would also attend a memorial service for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, whom he described as “one of Israel’s greatest friends since its inception.”

“It is fitting that we pay him this respect,” the premier continued.

Addressing the wave of terror attacks across Judea and Samaria, Netanyahu said the Israel Defense Forces continued to raid Palestinian villages, seize weapons, and arrest suspects.

He said soldiers had entered a hospital in the Samaria city of Nablus (Shechem) to detain two accomplices to Friday’s deadly terrorist shooting near Havat Gilad.

The home of the gunman was sealed ahead of its planned demolition, he noted, adding that the residences of other suspects had also been mapped for possible destruction.

Jerusalem remains prepared to expand its military operations against “the terrorist nests” in Judea and Samaria, Netanyahu vowed.

Netanyahu also welcomed what he described as a decision “by a large majority of countries” to remove International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan from office over allegations of sexual misconduct.

Netanyahu again accused Khan of advancing ICC arrest warrants against himself and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to deflect attention from the allegations against him.

“He did this to divert attention, to rally all of Israel’s haters around him, naturally, to give himself a protective shield,” he said.

“This shield has now been torn apart, exposing his true motivation, the injustice, and the deep corruption that exists not only in the prosecutor’s office, but in the International Criminal Court as a whole.”

Netanyahu said he spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday night, who reaffirmed Washington’s intention to act “firmly” against the ICC.

The ICC “endangers justice in the world and also threatens the right of democratic, sovereign states to exercise their sovereignty, and essentially attempts to subjugate their security to the decisions of a corrupt bureaucracy in The Hague,” he added.

“I think this is a very positive development, and I think it is important that we echo this around the world.”

Netanyahu’s upcoming visit to Washington comes amid continued strategic coordination with the Trump administration following recent tensions with Iran and as the two allies discuss broader regional issues

According to Axios, Netanyahu has met with Trump in the Oval Office six times since the U.S. president returned to office, more than any other world leader.