By 2023, Israel could join the US visa waiver program if all the conditions are met, US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides tells Israel Hayom.
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In a special interview ahead of the 4th of July and US President Joe Biden's upcoming visit to the region later that month, Nides said that while much work remains to be done, the US intends to bring Israel into the program by 2023.
Nides said he is working around the clock to make sure that happens, adding that he is cooperating closely with Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, who he said is focused on the issue.
According to Nides, Israel must take several steps to join the program, including passing certain laws to bring it into compliance with US requirements.
When asked if Shaked's cited February 2023 target date for the US visa waiver was indeed the goal, Nides said that the process should focus on the current calendar year, but that the waiver – if granted – would be implemented in 2023. Nides called the efforts "Herculean" and said that the US was trying to make it easier for Israelis to enter its borders.
Nides said that the Knesset needed to vote on a few matters of compliance and that the legislative body was working on it. The US, Nides said, was doing its part and hundreds of people had visited Washington as part of the process.
Nides declined to comment on Biden's visit to the region until the White House officially confirms it, but said, "President Biden loves Israel, and his visit will show that."
Turning to Iran, the ambassador said that the Revolutionary Guards would not be dropped from the US list of terrorist entities and said that Biden's stance on the issue was "uncompromising."
When asked if the US had a plan to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program, Nides said there was "no question" that while Washington still hoped to solve the matter through diplomacy, Biden would not "stand by" and watch the Iranians develop nuclear weapons. Nides said the US would work very closely with Israel and its allies, and reiterated Biden's assertion that "all options are on the table."
When asked why the US did not issue explicit threats that it would use military force against Iran's nuclear program, which even former President Barack Obama did, Nides said it was not his place as ambassador to make threats, and repeated that the US would work with Israel and its other regional allies to ensure that Iran did not obtain nuclear weapons.
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