Vice President Harris spoke to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu MORE on the phone Thursday after the Biden government condemned the International Criminal Court for “unfair” attacks on Israel in its new investigation.
In the call, Harris praised Netanyahu for his peace talks with other Middle Eastern countries and reaffirmed the US’s commitment to ensuring Israel’s security, especially with regard to Iran and its nuclear program.
She expressed strong support for Israel’s recent groundbreaking normalization agreements with countries in the Arab and Muslim world, and stressed the importance of promoting peace, security and prosperity for both Israelis and Palestinians, ”said the call-states’ press release.
Harris and Netanyahu also discussed COVID-19 and how the two countries can work together to combat the pandemic that has gripped the world for a year now.
“They discussed the importance of fostering scientific cooperation between our two countries and efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic,” the press release said.
However, Netanyahu in a tweet later that day mentioned a “joint team” between the countries to combat the virus, which was not discussed in the press release.
I spoke to US Vice President Kamla Harris, who congratulated her on the great success of the vaccination campaign in Israel. We have agreed on the creation of a joint team to strengthen cooperation in the fight against Corona. The vice president expressed the United States government’s full opposition to the decision of the International Court of Justice in The Hague
– Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) March 4, 2021
The Hill has contacted the White House for comment.
The two also discussed their “opposition” to the International Criminal Court, which is investigating alleged war crimes against Israel in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The Biden government believes that the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel and that the investigation is “unfairly” directed at the country, according to Spokesman Ned Price of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.