Publish Date: 18.12.2023
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, at the Kirya in Tel Aviv, issued the following statements at the start of the expanded meeting with the members of the War Cabinet:
Prime Minister Netanyahu:
Mr. Secretary, it’s good to welcome you and your delegation again. We’re fighting a war of civilization against barbarism.
I can say that when we spoke, I expressed again our commitment, Israel’s commitment, to achieve total victory against Hamas. And we think this is not only our war but in many ways your war because you are leading the forces of civilization in the world.
This is a battle against the Iranian axis, the Iranian axis of terror, which is now threatening to close the maritime strait of Bab el-Mandeb. This threatens the freedom of navigation of the entire world. I appreciate the fact that you’re taking action to open that strait. It’s not only our interest, it is the interest I think of the entire civilized community.
I want to thank you for the support that you have shown consistently, and I welcome the opportunity to talk about what else we’re doing to have our common interests served.”
US Secretary of Defense Austin:
“Prime Minister Netanyahu, thanks for hosting us again. This is my fourth visit to Israel as Secretary of Defense and my second since the terrible day of October 7th. I’m here to underscore what President Biden has said again and again: our commitment to Israel is unshakeable. I know that Israel is a small, tightknit country and I know that all Israelis were touched by the vast evil committed by Hamas. So I’m here to mourn with you for the innocent souls taken from you on October 7th and I’m also here to stand alongside the families of those still missing in Gaza, including US citizens.
America’s commitment to Israel is unwavering and no individual, group or state should test our resolve. So in the Red Sea, we’re leading a multinational maritime taskforce to uphold the bedrock principle of freedom of navigation. Iran’s support for Houthi attacks on commercial vessels must stop. Now, we’ll continue to provide Israel with the equipment that you need to defend your country, Mr. Prime Minister, including critical munitions, tactical vehicles and air defense systems.
We’ll continue to support Israel’s mission to find and free all of the hostages. I’m also here to discuss how we can best support Israel on a path to lasting security and that means tackling urgent needs first. We must get more humanitarian assistance in to the nearly two million displaced people in Gaza and we must distribute that aid better.
We want to thank you for the recent initiatives that you’ve taken, Mr. Prime Minister. We applaud that and hopefully that will enable us to move even more in. Thanks for again being a great host and I look forward to a great discussion, Mr. Prime Minister.”
Also participating in the meeting are:
For the Israeli side โ Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Minister Benny Gantz, Minister Gadi Eisenkot, MK Aryeh Deri, National Security Council Director Tzachi Hanegbi, the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Tzachi Braverman, Government Secretary Yossi Fuchs, IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi, the Prime Minister’s Military Secretary Maj.-Gen. Avi Gil, and the Prime Minister’s Foreign Policy Adviser Ophir Falk.
For the American side โ Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Brown, Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs David Satterfield, Secretary Austin’s Chief of Staff Kelly Magsamen and Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Israel Stephanie Hallett.
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