March 31 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has reaffirmed before his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, the “importance” of the ties between the two countries, after the criticism recently expressed by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, for the crisis unleashed as a result of the judicial reform proposal.
Bliken has had a telephone conversation with Cohen in which he has highlighted “the importance of the longstanding bilateral relationship between the United States and Israel,” according to a statement from the US State Department.
Likewise, both have addressed “shared challenges, including Iran” and “efforts to advance mutual interests, including Israel’s increased regional integration.” Blinken has also shown his commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In this sense, Blinken has applauded the efforts to reduce tensions in high-level meetings in Jordan and Egypt and has outlined “the importance of avoiding unilateral actions that increase tensions.”
For his part, Cohen has confirmed a conversation with Blinken, whom he has described as “a friend”, and has asserted that Israel “will continue working to strengthen the dialogue with this great ally”. “I am happy that there is an open channel of dialogue between the Secretary of State and myself,” he pointed out.
“We have talked about the expansion of the ‘Abraham Accords’, the exemption of visas for Israelis and judicial reform,” he said, without going into more detail. “Our relationship with the United States is one of the pillars of our foreign policy,” the Israeli minister added.
The conversation took place days after Biden expressed “very concern” about the situation in Israel and pointed out that the country “cannot continue on this path”, after massive mobilizations and an unprecedented strike that forced the Israeli prime minister , Benjamin Netanyahu, to suspend parliamentary proceedings on the proposal.
In response, Netanyahu said that he “is committed to strengthening democracy, while stating that “Israel is a sovereign country that makes its decisions in line with the will of the people and not based on pressure from abroad, including from its best friends.” .
If successful, the reform would give the government full control over the appointment of judges, including those on the Supreme Court, and would greatly limit the court’s ability to strike down legislation that violates the Constitution, while allowing Parliament to amend laws it succeeds in. annul with a simple majority of 61 of the 120 deputies.
