The United States and Israel are at a "critical juncture" on various security issues and should develop a joint strategy, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in the occupied lands on Wednesday.
Sullivan's 30-hour visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, days before Christmas, amid new global worries about the coronavirus pandemic, suggested urgency in Washington's desire to strengthen a long-standing alliance, Reuter news agency reported.
Bennett tweeted that the "productive" talks had included the "growing threat posed by Iran and its negotiations with the world powers".
Washington has been spearheading efforts in Vienna to renew a 2015 deal, in which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in return for the removal of sanctions.
Israel bitterly opposed the pact and former US President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of Iran’s nuclear deal, JCPOA, in 2018.
"What happens in Vienna has profound ramifications for the stability of the Middle East and the security of Israel for the upcoming years," Bennett told Sullivan.
Sullivan said President Joe Biden had sent him "because at a critical juncture for both our countries on a major set of security issues, it's important that we sit together and develop a common strategy, a common outlook".
MA/PR