White House National Security Adviser John Bolton arrived in Israel Sunday and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks focused mainly on Iran.
One of the U.S. administration's leading hawks, Bolton has pushed for greater pressure on Iran to ensure it halts its support for terrorism and its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.
Welcoming Bolton ahead of their talks on Monday, Netanyahu praised the U.S.-Israel alliance.
"Israel believes that it has no greater friend and ally than the United States and I believe that the United States has no greater friend and ally than Israel," he said.
"Under [U.S.] President [Donald] Trump, that alliance has grown stronger than it's ever been and your visit here gives us an opportunity to make it even stronger, and to align our policies even more closely on Iran, on Syria, on Gaza and on the many challenges that face both our countries in this region."
Netanyahu thanked the Trump administration for withdrawing from the 2015 international nuclear deal, which he said "did not block Iran's path to the bomb – it paved Iran's path to an entire nuclear arsenal."
In May, Trump withdrew from the nuclear agreement, which lifted crippling international sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear program.
"By removing the sanctions, it [the nuclear deal] enabled Iran to bring in billions and billions of dollars to its coffers, which only fueled Iran's war machine, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Yemen, and elsewhere," Netanyahu said.
"Israel applauds the Trump administration's determination to reimpose tough sanctions on Iran and those doing business with Iran. I know this view is shared by all our Arab neighbors, or practically everyone in this region."
Netanyahu called on "all countries who care about peace and security in the Middle East" to follow the U.S.'s lead and increase pressure on Iran.
"The greater the pressure on Iran, the greater the chance that the regime will roll back its aggression," he said.
Netanyahu said that in standing up to the oppressive Iranian regime, Israel and the U.S. show they are standing with the people of Iran.
"It's important that the people of Iran understand that our fight is not with them. Our fight is with the regime that brutally represses them," he said.
Netanyahu said Israel is "grateful for the Trump administration's unequivocal support for Israel in international forums, and on international issues."
"We appreciate as well the continued American commitment to maintaining Israel's qualitative military edge, which enables us to defend ourselves by ourselves against any threat," he said.
Bolton and Netanyahu later had a working dinner at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem, which was also attended by U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer.
Speaking ahead of the dinner, Bolton said, "We've got great challenges for Israel, for the United States, for the whole world – the Iran nuclear weapons program and ballistic missile programs are right at the top of the list."
Netanyahu said he could testify that "in and out of office," Bolton has been a "tremendous friend of Israel, tremendous champion of the American-Israel alliance."
Netanyahu said the two would discuss how "to continue to roll back Iran's aggression in the region and to make sure that they never have a nuclear weapon."
During his three-day visit, Bolton, accompanied by Dermer and Friedman, will meet with Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and the heads of Israel's security branches.
He will meet Russian officials in Geneva later in the week as a follow-up to the Helsinki summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the White House said. He will also visit Ukraine.
Bolton told ABC News in an interview earlier that the United States, Israel and Russia share the common goal of removing Iranian and Iranian-led forces from Syria, and ending Iran's support for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
"I think the president's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal has put a real crimp into the Iranian economy," Bolton said.
"I think they're feeling it in their capability for the Quds Force or the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to conduct offensive operations in the region here and in Yemen as well.
"But I think this is part of the problem with the Iranian regime generally, and why it's such a threat to peace and security not just because of its nuclear program, but because of its military operations and its support for terrorism."
Bolton said that at the July summit in Helsinki, Russian President Vladmir Putin was "very candid in his comments to President Trump, he was to me as well."
He said Putin does not think Russia has the same interests in Syria as Iran "and that he'd like to talk about ways to get" Iran out of the country.
Responding to Bolton's remarks, Israeli diplomats said that Israel has warned of Iran's close ties with Hezbollah for years, in regard to the organization's activities in Lebanon as well as in Syria. However, there was no official confirmation of the existence of a concrete plan to cut ties between Iran and Hezbollah.
