US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Israel’s new Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Sunday, in the US’ first face-to-face meeting with the freshly installed government.
Lapid is flying to Rome to see Blinken, who arrives in Italy on Sunday on a three-nation tour of Europe.
The meeting comes as President Joe Biden’s administration moves ahead with fresh talks on reviving a 2015 accord with Iran – strongly opposed by Israel – in which Tehran drastically scaled back nuclear work in return for promises of sanctions relief.
During the first meeting between a Biden Cabinet official and Israeli leadership since the new Israeli government came into office earlier this month, FM Lapid pledged to fix how politicized the Israeli-US relationship became in recent years. https://t.co/udp5xddNXE
— Kylie Atwood (@kylieatwood) June 27, 2021
Biden and Blinken are also eager to preserve a fragile ceasefire that took effect on May 21 between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas, after Israel’s 11-day assault on the besieged territory.
In his three days in Italy, Blinken on Monday will see Pope Francis, the pontiff’s first meeting with a high-ranking Biden administration official.
(The New Arab, PC, Social Media)
