US, Israel defense chiefs vow to prevent nuclear weapons in Middle East

i24NEWS

April 11, 2021, 08:02 AMlatest revision April 11, 2021, 08:52 AM

 3 min read

Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz vowed to prevent nuclear weapon proliferation in the Middle East while delivering remarks to the media alongside his US counterpart Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

“We will continue to work together to prevent nuclear weapons in the region,” Gantz told reporters gathered at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv.

Austin, 67, arrived in Israel on Sunday to discuss a host of regional security issues, including the Iranian nuclear issue, marking the first visit by a senior official in US President Joe Biden’s administration to the country.

“During our talks, I stressed to Mr. Austin that Israel sees the United States as a full partner on all operational fronts – the first of which is Iran,” Gantz said.

“The regime in Tehran today constitutes a strategic threat to world security, the Middle East, and the State of Israel,” he continued, adding that “we will together ensure that an agreement with Iran guarantees the vital interests of the world and of the United States.”

During the press event, Gantz, a former IDF Chief of Staff, also delivered remarks regarding the International Criminal Court and its ongoing war crimes probe into Israel’s alleged misconduct in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem.

To “all our enemies who seek to cynically exploit the International Criminal Court (ICC), that they will never succeed in preventing us from fulfilling our duty,” Gantz insisted.

Austin, for his part, underlined the “importance” of bilateral relations with the Jewish state, and reiterated “our commitment to Israel.”

The two defense chiefs will have lunch together and then resume meetings with their teams later in the day.

They will travel to Israel’s Nevatim Air Base, southeast of Beer Sheva, on Monday, and then visit the Yad Vashem Memorial in Jerusalem.