US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Israel Wednesday morning to begin a series of meetings on diplomatic and security issues, which began with a sit-down with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Upon arrival, Pompeo tweeted: "Glad to be in Israel to coordinate with @ISraeliPM @Netanyahu and @Gantzbe on countering two critical threat: COVID-19 and Iran."
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Pompeo's tweet said that "Israel and the United States will take on these challenges side-by-side."
At the start of the meeting, Netanyahu said, "Your arrival here is testimony of the strength of the alliance with the US and your commitment to the state of Israel. We have a lot to discuss: the corona pandemic is challenging our countries, and the rest of the world. We will discuss strengthening our cooperation in the battle against corona."
Netanyahu added, "There is another plague in our region: Iranian aggression and terrorism. I want to express my appreciation for the position your president and the American administration have taken in leaving the [2015] nuclear deal and keeping up the weapons embargo on Iran, which isn't stopping its aggression against Israel and America for a moment.
"We are about to swear in a national unity government tomorrow. This is an opportunity to promote peace and security, based on the understandings I reached with the president on my last visit to Washington, in January," Netanyahu said.
US Ambassador David Friedman, with whom Pompeo is also slated to meet, did not attend Pompeo's arrival as he was feeling unwell and had been advised to keep away, the US State Department said.
Friedman tested negative for the coronavirus, a State Department spokeswoman said.
In addition to Netanyahu and Friedman, Pompeo is slated to meet with new Knesset Speaker Benny Gantz, head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Gabi Ashkenazi, and head of the Mossad Yossi Cohen.
The US shares Israel's desire to oust Iranian forces from Syrian completely. Recently, Israeli officials have expressed concern that Iran might be exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to shake off some US sanctions and further develop its nuclear weapons program.
