Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Blinken holds phone calls with Netanyahu, Abbas 

The U.S. secretary and the Israeli prime minister “discussed mutual interests, including expanding Israel’s regional integration and countering threats posed by Iran.”

Netanyahu Blinken
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a Jerusalem press conference on Jan. 30, 2023. Photo by Yoav Ari Dudkevitch/POOL.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, according to Matthew Miller, spokesman for the U.S. State Department.

Blinken “reaffirmed the strength of the bilateral partnership and U.S. commitment to Israel’s security,” stated Miller, who added that the two leaders “discussed mutual interests, including expanding Israel’s regional integration and countering threats posed by Iran.”

Blinken “reiterated continued U.S. support for policies that ensure freedom, security and prosperity for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” Miller said.

A separate State Department statement from Miller released on Tuesday referred to Blinken’s call on Monday with Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas.

 The secretary of state “expressed continued concern about ongoing violence in the West Bank” and “reaffirmed U.S. support for measures to advance freedom and security and improve the quality of life for the Palestinian people,” according to the readout.

Miller also noted that Blinken and Abbas “discussed their support for a two-state solution and opposition to actions endangering its viability.”  

Limor Son Har-Melech, who introduced the bill and whose husband was murdered in a 2003 terror attack, stated that the “historic law” means “whoever chooses to murder Jews because they are Jews forfeits their right to live.”
Either Iran “agrees to abide by international law, or a coalition of nations from around the world and the region will make sure that it’s open,” the U.S. secretary of state said.
Lawyers for the council said that Queens councilmember Vickie Paladino sought the subpoenas “with the sole purpose of creating a public spectacle.”
It appears as “a living educational framework—a connection between Jewish communities in Israel and abroad, and a reflection of the strength of these communities across generations.”
“It becomes comfort, continuity and a way to feel connected to tradition and to one another at home,” Talia Sabag, of the Manischewitz parent company Kayko, told JNS.
The mayor said the NYPD informed him of the alleged firebombing plot against Within Our Lifetime co-founder Nerdeen Kiswani a day after a New Jersey man was charged for the threat.