Report: Meeting at White House to discuss new Israeli govt.

A high-level meeting was held at the White House last week lo discuss policy towards the new government in Israel, including the question of whether or not to hold talks with certain ministers from the ‘extreme right,’ Barak Ravid reported for Walla.

According to the report, this is the first meeting on the subject, which was held as part of a National Security Council forum, of which senior representatives from the State Department, the Defense Department and the American intelligence organizations are members.

The group discussed the possibility of creating plans of action with the new government and setting an agenda for dealing with designated ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the left-wing pro-Israel lobby J Street’s annual conference, stating: “We will object to any move to annex the West Bank. We have to allow the Palestinian youth to at least imagine a better future.”

“We fully respect the democratic choice of the Israeli people and congratulate Benjamin Netanyahu, and welcome his commitment to work for the benefit of all residents of the State of Israel, without exception,” the Secretary of State stated.

Blinken insisted that the Biden administration will judge the new government in Israel “By its policy and not by the identity of specific characters.” He emphasized that the United States would demand that the new government “continue to work with us and advance our shared values, just as we have with previous governments.”

Blinken continued to say that “normalization between Israel and its neighbors is not a substitute for building peace between Israelis and Palestinians” and insisted that Israelis and Palestinians do not share the same level of freedom and that he supports equal treatment for violence in the West Bank, no matter if it comes from Israel or the Palestinians.