Former national security adviser Robert O’Brien said Monday that he and two others Trump administration’s foreign policy officials met with high-level Israeli government officials, including the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival, Benny GantzDuring his three-day visit to Israel.
O’Brien confirmed the visit, reported first This was reported by Reuters in an interview with NBC News.
O’Brien said that US Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates John Rakolta and former US Ambassador to Switzerland Ed McMullen accompanied him and met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. According to him, further discussions with Israeli officials are planned on Tuesday.
All three remain close to former President Donald Trump, who are likely to be briefed on their visits. O’Brien declined to say whether he had discussed the trip with Trump in advance, but noted that he speaks with him regularly.
“My goal on this trip was really to show support for Israel,” O’Brien said in an interview. “But at the same time, people know that I’m a former Trump official, I’m in regular contact with the president, and I’m strongly supporting him in November.”
He said one reason for the visit was to check on his status The Abrahamic Covenants — In 2020, a number of historic agreements were signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalizing relations.
O’Brien said he informed the Biden administration of the visit several weeks ago, as is his routine.
The US is trying to broker an agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia that would normalize relations and resolve the post-war administration of Gaza. O’Brien said it should not conclude until Hamas is defeated, as the Trump administration has done. announced he yesd dHe defeated ISIS.
O’Brien said he, Rakolta and McMullen met with Gantz, one of three members of Israel’s war cabinet, on Sunday and Netanyahu on Monday. He also said they spent time at the site of the Hamas attack on Israel and visited with the family of one of the hostages still being held by Hamas.
O’Brien said Monday’s discussions with Netanyahu will include that Statement of the International Criminal Court He wants an arrest warrant for him, as well as for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. O’Brien called the ICC action a disgrace.
He also criticized the decision of the Biden administration stop sending military aid Addressing Israel, he called it “treason” and said that he did not discuss the issue with Israeli officials.
Israel’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night about the visit.
O’Brien said the sense he got from Israeli officials was that “Israel understands that the United States needs them as an ally.”
“What I tell my former Israeli colleagues is that they should stay close to the United States regardless of who the president is,” O’Brien said.