U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will be arriving in Israel on Friday to discuss the international talks on Iran’s nuclear program and Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced at the weekly cabinet meeting yesterday. Kerry’s visit to Israel will coincide with the next round of talks in Geneva between Iran and six world powers, which will resume Wednesday. Kerry will be on standby to fly to Geneva to sign an agreement with Iran if a deal is reached while he is in Israel, said Israeli government officials.
Kerry is expected to meet with Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, the officials said, amid high levels of U.S.-Israel tension over whether to move forward with the Iran deal, which Netanyahu opposes.
Yesterday, though, the prime minister made conciliatory comments.
“John Kerry is an old friend of mine as well as a friend of Israel,” Netanyahu told the cabinet. “He is making an effort to move forward on peace between us and the Palestinians, and I will also discuss the Iranian issue with him. I would like to make it clear that there can be differences of opinion even between the best of friends – certainly on matters related to our future and our fate.”
Netanyahu said he held out hope for a better deal that would reduce the risk of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.
“It is the obligation of the Israeli government to defend the interests that are crucial to us, and that is what we are doing in the face of an agreement that is a bad deal,” he said. “I hope we will succeed this week in convincing our friends to reach a better deal. Iran is under financial pressure, and increasing and intensifying this pressure could lead to the better result of a peaceable diplomatic solution.”
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