Netanyahu Seeks to Coordinate with Arab States Joint Stance on Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Reuters file photo
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Reuters file photo
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Netanyahu Seeks to Coordinate with Arab States Joint Stance on Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Reuters file photo
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Reuters file photo

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to coordinate with Arab countries a united stance on Iran and discuss ways to deal with the new US administration on the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Netanyahu’s spokesman announced that Wednesday’s cabinet meeting set to discuss the Iranian threat has been postponed to Sunday over the ministers' preoccupation with the upcoming elections and the lockdown measures.

The cabinet was scheduled to discuss the Iranian threat in light of information on possible operations against Israeli, US, and Emirati embassies and consulates around the world, in revenge for the assassination of top Iranian officials Qassem Soleimani and Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

Informed sources said Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders are very concerned over Iran’s terrorism and increased uranium enrichment.

Netanyahu and security leaders want to discuss deterring Iran and ending its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, as well as its plots in regional countries.

The PM also wants to ensure that Israel’s demands are met, while maintaining good relations with US President Joe Biden, unlike the strained relations Israel had with former President Barack Obama.

Israel Hayom daily reported that Netanyahu’s top priority is to inform the Biden administration of a unified position with Arab countries on Iran.

The newspaper confirmed that Netanyahu will dispatch Mossad chief Yossi Cohen to Washington for talks with US administration officials, in an attempt to prevent Washington from returning to the nuclear deal with Iran.

Cohen will provide sensitive intelligence about the Iranian nuclear program as well as Tehran's financing and planning of terrorist operations in the Middle East. He hopes Biden's advisors will take the information into account when negotiating with Iran.

But the Walla website quoted a number of Israeli politicians as saying that most of Biden’s advisers had formerly worked with Obama, describing them as political and not security experts.

One official said that since 2015, a lot of things have changed "for the worse."

Israeli politicians and security leaders believe that the US administration is moving towards lifting the sanctions on Iran and returning to the nuclear agreement, without being aware of the fundamental changes that have taken place.



Israel Says it Has Secured $8.7 Billion US Aid Package

A worker is raised on a forklift at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an apartment on al-Qaem street in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
A worker is raised on a forklift at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an apartment on al-Qaem street in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
TT

Israel Says it Has Secured $8.7 Billion US Aid Package

A worker is raised on a forklift at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an apartment on al-Qaem street in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
A worker is raised on a forklift at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an apartment on al-Qaem street in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)

Israel said on Thursday it had secured an $8.7 billion aid package from the United States package to support its ongoing military efforts.

The package includes $3.5 billion for essential wartime procurement, which has already been received and earmarked for critical military purchases, and $5.2 billion designated for air defense systems including the Iron Dome anti-missile system and an advanced laser system.

Israel is currently fighting on two fronts, against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.