Departing For Washington. Netanyahu Affirms Israel Remains The Main Ally Of The US Whoever Replaces Biden

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu/PHOTO via Instagram @b.netanyahu

JAKARTA - Israel will become the United States' strongest ally in the Middle East regardless of who will be elected president of the United States (US) in November, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said before flying to Washington, where he was scheduled to make a speech at the US Congress.

The visit was Netanyahu's first visit to his most important international ally since returning to prime minister for his sixth term at the end of 2022, overshadowed by President Joe Biden's decision not to run again.

Netanyahu said he would thank Biden for everything he has done for Israel throughout his career and discussed with him issues such as the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, defeating the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, and facing Iran and its proxies in the region.

The meeting with Biden is temporarily planned for Tuesday, July 23, if the 81-year-old president has recovered from COVID-19.

Netanyahu is scheduled to make a speech to Congress on Wednesday, July 24.

"I will tell my friends on both sides that no matter who the American people choose as the next president, Israel remains a very necessary and powerful ally of America in the Middle East," he told reporters before departing.

"In these wartimes and uncertainties, it is important for Israeli enemies to know that America and Israel stand together today, tomorrow, and forever," Netanyahu said.

After months of cold relations with Washington over how Israel carried out the attack on Gaza following the Hamas-led attack on October 7, the visit offered Netanyahu a way to try to restore relations with Washington.

His speech to Congress is expected to focus on coordinating Israel and the US response to the volatile situation in the Middle East, where there is a danger of Gaza's war that will spread into a wider regional conflict.

The speech may not have been too confrontational compared to Netanyahu's speech to Congress in 2015, when he criticized Barack Obama's efforts as president to reach a nuclear deal with Iran.