JERUSALEM –
US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid agreed on Thursday and declared that they would not allow Iran to become a nuclear power. However, they split on how to get there.
Biden, at a joint news conference after a personal meeting with the Israeli leader, said he still wants to give diplomacy a chance. Moments earlier, Lapid insisted that words alone will not thwart Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
While Biden suggested his patience with Iran was wearing thin, he remained hopeful that Iran could be persuaded to rejoin a dormant deal aimed at preventing it from building a nuclear weapon.
“I continue to believe that diplomacy is the best way to achieve this result,” Biden said on the second day of a four-day visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia. It is his first trip to the Middle East as president.
Biden’s emphasis on a diplomatic solution contrasted with Lapid, who said Iran must face a real threat of force before agreeing to give up its nuclear ambitions.
“Words won’t stop them, Mr. President. Diplomacy will not stop them,” Lapid said. “The only thing that will stop Iran is knowing that if they continue to develop their nuclear program, the free world will use force.”
Lapid suggested that he and Biden were on the same page, despite his harsher rhetoric toward Iran.
“I don’t think there is a light between us,” he said. “We cannot allow Iran to go nuclear.”
Biden also said: “We will not, let me say it again, we will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.”
He warned that his patience is running out for Iran to rejoin the nuclear deal, a day after saying he would be willing to use force against Tehran as a last resort. The president said the United States had presented Iranian leaders with a path to return to the nuclear deal and that he was still waiting for a response.
“When that will come, I’m not sure,” Biden said. “But we’re not going to wait forever.”
Reviving the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Barack Obama administration and abandoned by Donald Trump in 2018 was a key priority for Biden when he took office. But administration officials have grown increasingly pessimistic about Tehran’s chances of coming back into compliance.
Israeli officials have sought to use Biden’s first visit to the Middle East as president to underscore that Iran’s nuclear program has progressed too far and encourage the Biden administration to thwart efforts to revive the deal.
Israel opposed the original nuclear deal because its limitations on Iran’s nuclear enrichment would expire and the deal did not address Iran’s ballistic missile program or military activities in the region.
Rather than the US re-entering the deal, Israel would prefer tough sanctions in the hope of leading to a broader deal.
The one-on-one talks between Biden and Lapid marked the centerpiece of a 48-hour visit by Biden aimed at strengthening already close US-Israel relations. The leaders issued a joint statement emphasizing military cooperation and a commitment to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
In the joint statement, the United States said it is ready to use “all elements of its national power” to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb.
Iran announced last week that it has enriched uranium to 60% purity, a technical step away from weapons-grade quality.
The joint statement could have significant symbolic significance for Biden’s upcoming meeting with Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia as he seeks to strengthen a regional alliance against Iran.
The US president, who is due to arrive in Saudi Arabia on Friday, said he had also emphasized to Lapid the importance of Israel becoming “fully integrated” into the region.
Israel during the Trump administration signed the Abraham Accords, declarations of diplomatic and economic normalization signed by Israel, Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates that were a foreign policy achievement for the Republican president. For Israel to reach such an agreement with the Saudis, an economic and Islamic epicenter in the Middle East, would be even more significant.
Lapid asked Biden to deliver a message on Israel’s behalf to the Arab leaders he will meet with in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: “Our hand is outstretched for peace.”
“His visit to Saudi Arabia is important for Israel and for the region,” Lapid added. “For our security and for the future prosperity of the Middle East.”
The president will visit Saudi Arabia after calling the kingdom a “rogue” nation as a candidate and releasing a US intelligence finding last year that showed the kingdom’s de facto leader Mohammed bin Salman likely approved of the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi. , an American- based writer.
Biden declined to commit to mentioning Khashoggi’s murder when he meets with the crown prince.
“I always mention human rights,” Biden said at the news conference. “But my position on Khashoggi has been very clear. If someone doesn’t understand him, in Saudi Arabia or anywhere else, then he hasn’t been around for a while.” He did not reiterate his position.
Thursday’s appearances with the Israeli prime minister could also give a boost to Lapid, who is serving on an interim basis until elections in November, Israel’s fifth in less than four years. Lapid’s main opponent is former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his joint appearance with Biden could help burnish his credentials as a statesman and leader.
Biden and Lapid also participated in a virtual summit with India and the United Arab Emirates, a collection of countries called I2U2. The United Arab Emirates has announced that it will help finance a $2 billion project that supports agriculture in India.
Biden did not mention Israel’s upcoming elections during the public portion of Thursday’s meeting with Lapid, but told reporters “we got off to a good start to a long relationship, God willing.”
Biden briefly met with Netanyahu, with whom he has had a rocky relationship. Netanyahu bets on returning to power in the next elections
The president also received Israel’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Honor, from President Isaac Herzog.
Biden also planned to meet with American athletes participating in the Maccabee Games. Also known as the “Jewish Olympics,” it is the largest sporting event in the country and takes place every four years for Israeli and Jewish athletes from around the world.
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Megerian reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.