JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday (Sep 14) that a visit to Israel by top US diplomat Marco Rubio underscored the strength of ties between the allies, days after an unprecedented Israeli strike targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar drew broad criticism.
The attack on the US ally and key mediator in Gaza truce talks has prompted Arab and Muslim leaders to gather for a show of solidarity in Doha, where Qatar’s prime minister urged the world to reject “double standards” and hold Israel to account.
US leader Donald Trump has rebuked Israel over Tuesday’s strike, and Rubio acknowledged to reporters before departing Washington that the president was “not happy” about it, but he insisted the attack would not “change the nature of our relationship with the Israelis”.
Nevertheless, the strike has put renewed strain on efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, and Rubio allowed that the United States and Israel were “going to have to talk about” its impact.
Netanyahu has defended the operation – which targeted Hamas officials gathering to discuss a new US ceasefire proposal – saying killing the group’s leaders would remove the “main obstacle” to ending the Gaza war.
On Sunday, Rubio offered prayers at Jerusalem’s sacred Western Wall alongside Netanyahu and US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, an AFP correspondent reported.
Netanyahu said afterwards that the visit showed the Israeli-American alliance was “as strong, as durable as the stones in the Western Wall that we just touched”.
Under Rubio and President Donald Trump, “the alliance has never been stronger”, he added.
Rubio’s main meetings with officials, including Netanyahu, will take place on Monday before he departs on Tuesday.
His visit coincides with Monday’s emergency summit of Arab and Muslim leaders in Qatar, whose Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani addressed a preparatory meeting on Sunday.
“The time has come for the international community to stop using double standards and to punish Israel for all the crimes it has committed,” he said, adding Israel’s “war of extermination” in Gaza would not succeed.
“What is encouraging Israel to continue… is the silence, the inability of the international community to hold it accountable.”
