July 17 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, has finally invited the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to make an official visit to Washington in the first phone call between the two in four months.
Netanyahu’s office has reported the conversation, in which the two leaders have had a “long and friendly conversation” focused on “strengthening the alliance between the two countries, tackling the threats from Iran and its metastases and efforts to achieve calm and stability in Judea and Samaria”, a reference to the Zionist name for the West Bank.
Netanyahu’s office has confirmed that he has accepted the invitation to meet with Biden and that the teams from both parties will coordinate to specify the details of the appointment, reports the Israeli newspaper ‘Yeidioth Aharonoth’.
Netanyahu and Biden have also discussed the controversial judicial reform promoted by the Israeli Executive. Next week the Knesset or Israeli Parliament will foreseeably approve the law that modifies the criterion of “reasonableness” that now allows the courts to question the decisions of the Government, which according to the opposition means ending the division of powers.
Netanyahu has explained to Biden that his goal is to “forge a broad public consensus” on the rest of the judicial reform during the summer recess of the Knesset.
US VERSION
Later, the White House issued a statement on the conversation between Biden and Netanyahu in which it highlighted the “strong commitment” of the United States to Israel’s security. Biden has condemned the recent “terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens” and has highlighted the “close coordination” against Iran.
“The US-Israel alliance remains the touchstone to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” the White House stressed.
Washington has also defended the “need to adopt measures to maintain the viability of a two-state solution” for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and “improve the situation in the West Bank.” To this end, it has highlighted the “new Israeli steps” to improve the living conditions of the Palestinians and has recognized the “promising steps” of the Palestinian Authority to control Jenin and other areas of the West Bank.
In any case, Washington has expressed its “concern” about the “growth of settlements” and has asked the parties to “avoid unilateral measures.” At the regional level, they have addressed measures to “deepen and expand normalization with countries” neighboring Israel.
Regarding the controversial judicial reform, Biden “has reiterated (…) the need for the broadest possible consensus and for common democratic values to continue to be the differential mark of the United States-Israel relationship.”
