Trump’s Middle East Policy Is ‘Welcome Change,’ Netanyahu Tells Mattis
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis in Jerusalem on April 21, 2017. Image by Amos Ben Gerschom/GPO
(JTA) — President Trump’s recent actions in the Middle East are “a welcome change,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis during a meeting Friday in Jerusalem.
The “forthright words on the part of President Trump and very forthright deeds against the use of chemical weapons by Iran’s proxy, Syria,” Netanyahu said, have “been appreciated around the world and in our region. I think this is a welcome change, a strategic change of American leadership and American policy.”
A U.S. Navy vessel on April 7 launched 59 missiles into Syria in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons. Former president Barack Obama said the use of chemical weapons was a “red line,” but did not order a strike when such weapons were used.
Netanyahu also noted that Mattis had “very clear and forthright words” about Iran. “We sense a great change in the direction of American policy,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu and Obama clashed publicly over the nuclear deal with Iran, which offered the Islamic Republic sanctions relief in exchange for a partial scaling-back of its nuclear program. Netanyahu said the deal “paved Iran’s path” to obtaining nuclear weapons, whereas Obama said it was the best way to block that path.
The Iranians “appear to be living up to their part of the agreement,” Mattis said during a meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman. The nuclear deal “continues to be in force,” he said.
However, he also warned “that in no way mitigates against or excuses the other Iranian activities in the region including the war in Yemen that grinds on and what they’re doing in Syria” to keep Assad in power. “But the agreement on nuclear issues still stands and that’s all I can say about it.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
