“The President’s relationship with Israel is way more important, significant and long-lasting than any political event,” said Lapid.
US President Joe Biden will visit Israel regardless of the government’s instability, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in a briefing on Wednesday.
Asked if he is confident the coalition will still be standing when Biden is expected to arrive in Israel on July 13, Lapid said: “I don’t know if I’m confident, but I’m going to do everything I can to make sure it will… I’m not a political commentator but I think this government is going to be there to welcome [Biden] on the red carpet.”
Lapid said he is certain “the president will be here no matter what.”
“The President’s relationship with Israel is way more important, significant and long-lasting than any political event,” Lapid said. “The US is our greatest ally and the most important partnership and friendship we have.”
“The President’s relationship with Israel is way more important, significant and long-lasting than any political event,”
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid
In light of Biden’s plan to fly directly from Israel to Saudi Arabia and the Prime Minister’s Office statement that Biden will announce steps bringing Israel closer to its neighbors in the Middle East, Lapid said that the visit is part of what Israel has called the “regional architecture.”
“We are trying to put Iran under siege security- and policy-wise because Iran is a threat to the entire region, not only to Israel,” Lapid said. “Iran’s nuclear program is a global threat, not just an Israeli threat. It’s existential to us, but it will throw the entire Middle East and the rest of the world into a new arms race. It is in nobody’s interest. All measures being taken in the region are considered part of this effort.”
“I’m not sure the enemy of my enemy is always my friend, but the enemy of my enemy is someone I can consider working with,” he stated.
While Lapid said he will not discuss whether Israel and Saudi Arabia are in talks, he said both have an interest in stopping the Iranian threat and that all countries facing that challenge should work together.
As for the reports that Israel and Saudi Arabia agreed on security arrangements in the Straits of Tiran in exchange for flyover rights for Israeli airlines, Lapid said: “I don’t want to steal the show from the president.”
Still, he added that the reports “are not without some base. Everyone is looking at Saudi Arabia these days for a reason.”