WASHINGTON, March 31 — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday pledged enduring ties with Israel but warned against inflaming tensions with the Palestinians, following a rare public spat between the allies.
President Joe Biden, speaking to reporters Tuesday, called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step back from a bid to weaken the judiciary that has set off massive protests.
Netanyahu, who at least temporarily froze the push faced with a general strike, responded that he would not bow to foreign pressure but took a more conciliatory tone when he participated in a democracy summit called by Biden.
In the highest level contact since the exchange, Blinken called Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and “reaffirmed the importance of the enduring US-Israel bilateral relationship,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said.
Blinken also discussed Iran, seen by Netanyahu as a paramount threat, and renewed US support for a Palestinian state — an idea rejected by much of Netanyahu’s hard-right government.
The top US diplomat “emphasised the importance of refraining from unilateral actions that exacerbate tensions,” Patel said in a statement.
Biden, who has known Netanyahu for decades, took office hoping to avoid a replay of the public feuding with the Israeli leader seen when he was Barack Obama’s vice president.
But the State Department issued strong condemnation after Israel’s parliament voted to annul a US-backed rule against certain settlements in the West Bank and denounced one of Netanyahu’s ministers over remarks denying the existence of the Palestinian people. — AFP