U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a joint pledge to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Biden issued one of the boldest warnings to Tehran, committing to Israel’s leaders that “we will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon,” but Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid went a little further asking all democratic nations to vow to act if the Iranians continue “to develop their nuclear program.”
Speaking alongside Biden at a joint news conference in Jerusalem, Lapid told reporters the Iranian regime “must know that if they continue to deceive the world, they will pay a heavy price.”
Joint Declaration on US-Israel Strategic Partnership
The leaders of the United States and Israel signed Joint Declaration on the US-Israel Strategic Partnership on July 14.
The declaration statement said that the U.S. reiterates its steadfast commitment to preserve and strengthen Israel’s security, the maintenance of its qualitative military edge and capability to deter its enemies and to defend itself by itself against any threat or combination of threats. The commitment never to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon is integral to this pledge between U.S. and Israel.
“The United States further affirms the commitment to work together with other partners to confront Iran’s aggression and destabilizing activities, whether advanced directly or through proxies and terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”
The United States and Israel noted that the United States considers Israel’s security essential to U.S. interests and an anchor of regional stability.
Tech and defense collaboration
The United States and Israel enjoy extensive bilateral cooperation in science and technology, intelligence sharing and joint military exercises, to shared efforts in confronting pressing global challenges such as climate change, food security, and healthcare. The two leaders launched a new U.S.-Israel Strategic High-Level Dialogue on Technology to form a U.S.-Israel technological partnership in critical and emerging technologies, as well as in areas such as pandemic preparedness, climate change, artificial intelligence, and trusted technology.
The statement added that the U.S. strongly supports implementing the terms of the current historic $38 billion Memorandum of Understanding in full, which honors the United States’ enduring commitment to Israel’s security. Washington is committed to seeking additional missile defense assistance in excess of MOU levels, in exceptional circumstances such as the hostilities with Hamas over eleven days in May 2021.
