US president, Israeli prime minister meet at White House

By Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) - US President Joe Biden welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to the White House on Friday to discuss bilateral and regional developments.

The two leaders held a news conference before the meeting, the White House said in a statement.

Biden offered condolences to the families of American soldiers killed in Thursday’s terror attacks at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan and said the US will complete its mission, regardless of conditions.

The American president noted that in the meeting the men would also discuss the coronavirus pandemic.

“We also are going to discuss the threat from Iran and our commitment to ensure Iran never develops a nuclear weapon,” he said, underlining that the US will continue to support Israel. “We’re putting diplomacy first and seeing where that takes us, but if diplomacy fails, we’re ready to turn to other options.”

Biden said the US will support Israel’s development of deeper ties with its Arab and Muslim neighbors.

He said the two sides will discuss ways to advance peace, security and prosperity for Israelis and Palestinians.

“And we’re also going to direct our teams to work toward Israel fulfilling the requirements of the visa waiver program and get that done,” he added.

Bennett extended condolences and deep sadness on behalf of the Israeli people for the loss of American lives in Kabul.

“Israel always stands together with the US unequivocally,” he said.

The meeting was planned for Thursday but was postponed because of the terror attack.

At least 170 people, including 13 US soldiers, were killed in explosions outside the airport, where thousands of people have been camped for weeks in hopes of leaving Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover.

The Taliban seized control of most of Afghanistan after lightning advances that included the capital, Kabul, on Aug. 15, forcing former President Ashraf Ghani and top officials to leave the country.