If you’ve been wondering whether the White House is pressuring Israel not to attack Iran — at least at this point — you have guessed right.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had a “very candid” conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Sunday night about ongoing US-Iran negotiations, following instructions from President Donald Trump, she told interviewers Monday on Fox News’ ‘Fox & Friends’.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee accompanied Noem to the talks. Also participating in the meeting were the Prime Minister’s Military Secretary, Maj.-Gen. Roman Gofman; his Foreign Policy Advisor, Dr. Ophir Falk; and the Prime Minister’s Spokesperson, Dr. Omer Dostri. Earlier in the day she visited the Western Wall and place a note in the Wall expressing America’s support for Israel.
Noem was ordered by the president to board a plane for Israel after two staff members from the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC were murdered in a shooting attack outside a diplomatic venue last week. But her trip had more to do with Iran than it did with her stated mission to participate in a memorial for the two murdered young people.
“President Trump specifically sent me here to have a conversation with the prime minister about how those negotiations [with Iran] are going and how important it is that we stay united and let this process play out,” Noem told the interviewers. “It was a very candid conversation.”
Noem said Netanyahu’s team later told their US counterparts “they don’t remember a bilateral meeting that was quite that candid and direct — about how we really felt about the importance of Israel, our support for Israel — but that this negotiation was critically important too.”
The Secretary emphasized that a decision by the president on “what’s going to happen with Iran” is expected to take place in “a matter of days.” She asked Netanyahu to “work with President Trump to make sure that we were making wise decisions together.”
Noem said she “delivered the message on where the president was,” emphasizing “the president will never accept a nuclear-capable Iran … He wants this prime minister, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to be on the same page” with him, she said.
“We talked about the track record with Iran; you can’t trust them. We’ve got 46 years of proof that you can’t trust Iran, and Bibi doesn’t trust them either,” she noted.
“I don’t blame him one bit. His people have been devastated by the horrific violence that they’ve perpetuated among their people. But: He also needs America, and he knows he needs America, and he needs our president to be his ally and to work together,” she underscored.
“We’re stronger when we are united.”
