Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Tuesday in Jerusalem with a bipartisan congressional delegation under the auspices of AIPAC.
The meeting focused on the Iranian nuclear threat and artificial intelligence technology.
Netanyahu thanked the U.S. lawmakers “for their steadfast support for the State of Israel and their unqualified support for Israel’s security,” according to a statement.
Netanyahu also updated the delegation on his planned visit to China next month, which will be his fourth official trip to the country. The news comes as the White House has yet to extend Netanyahu an invitation nearly seven months into his sixth term as premier. The premier said that he had informed the Biden administration last month of his decision to go. Senior Israeli political officials told the Jewish News Syndicate that the China visit is intended to signal to Washington that Jerusalem has other foreign policy options.
It will be the Israeli prime minister’s first trip to Bejing in six years. He stressed to the congressional representatives that “security and intelligence cooperation between the U.S. and Israel is at an all-time peak, and that the U.S. will always be Israel’s most vital ally and irreplaceable ally.”
Also participating in the meeting were Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hangebi.
On Monday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with the visiting members of congress led by Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) and Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.).
Gallant thanked the lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee for their commitment to the special bond between the two countries and promoting “critical defense and military cooperation.”
Lamborn said, “I will continue to support a strong working relationship with Israel and never waver from my commitment.”
Produced in association with Jewish News Syndicate
Edited by Jessi Rexroad Shull and Kyana Jeanin Rubinfeld
