President Isaac Herzog held a summit with US President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday in what was the third time in roughly a year the two leaders meet.
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This was Herzog's first stop in his visit to the US capital, a day before he was set to deliver a speech before a joint meeting of Congress.
"Welcome back, pleasure to have you here," Biden told Herzog as the two appeared for a photo-op in the Oval Office. Biden congratulated Israel for its 75 years of Israel's independence and gave a fist bump to his counterpart. He stressed that "the friendship was simply unbreakable."
Video: Reuters/Biden speaks with Isaac Herzog in the Oval Office
The US president further reiterated his pledge that Iran will "never" have a nuclear weapon and praised the ongoing normalization efforts in the region, as well as the recent agreement with Lebanon that resolved a dispute over the maritime border.
"You know my love for Israel is deep," Biden noted, adding that if "Israel didn't exist we would have to invent it." He then repeated his claim that his administration's commitment for Israel's security was "ironclad."
Herzog said he brought "greetings and gratitude" from "all sides of the political spectrum," noting that the ongoing political crisis involving the judicial reform controversy and the massive "Day of Disturbance" protests on Tuesday has created a unique "internal Israeli situation."
"I was pleased to hear about your conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu which focused on our ironclad military cooperation because there are some enemies of ours that sometimes mistaken the fact that we may have some differences as impacting our unbreakable bond, " Herzog said.
He added that his "heart and soul" were back home because of the domestic strife and reassured Biden that this "heated debate we are going through as a society" is normal. "It is a virtue and a tribute to the greatness of Israeli democracy." He then stressed, "Let me reiterate, clear, crystal clear, that Israeli democracy is sound strong and resilient. We are going through pains, heated debates, we're going through challenging moments; I truly believe (...) we should always seek to find amicable consensus."
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