Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday evening that he had spoken with U.S. President Donald Trump and congratulated him ahead of America’s 250th Independence Day, which will be marked Saturday, July 4.
Amid heightened tensions between Washington and Jerusalem following the agreement with Iran, Netanyahu said the two leaders agreed to meet soon in the United States. The meeting is expected to take place on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly in New York in September.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump
(Photo: Prime Minister’s Office, Shutterstock)
“The prime minister said in their conversation that the United States is a guarantee of global freedom, and that Israel greatly values the close bond between the nations,” Netanyahu’s office said.
The announcement was released minutes after the Prime Minister’s Office issued an English-language statement denying, nearly a day after publication, a New York Times report that the Trump administration feared Israel was planning to assassinate Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf during negotiations that led to last month’s memorandum of understanding.
“As usual, the latest New York Times story on Israel and Iranian negotiators is fake news. A total distortion of reality,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
The New York Times report, also cited by other outlets, said U.S. officials had worried that Israel might target senior Iranian negotiators during sensitive talks. The Prime Minister’s Office rejected the claim outright.