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This week, indirect nuclear talks with Iran continued in Vienna as Israeli Defense Minister Gantz traveled to Washington.
Update from Vienna: Talks resumed Thursday after being halted last week because Iran didn’t seem "serious," Secretary of State Blinken said.
"What we’ve seen in the last couple of days is that Iran right now does not seem to be serious about doing what’s necessary to return to compliance, which is why we ended this round of talks in Vienna," Blinken said last week.
In Washington: Gantz met with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of Defense Austin, at the Pentagon on Thursday to discuss the Iranian threat along with other key issues.
"In its aspirations to become a hegemon, Iran seeks to destroy all traces of freedom, human dignity and peace in the Middle East and beyond. The nuclear program is a means to its hegemonic goals," Gantz said at the meeting.
Our view: America must not succumb to Iran’s nuclear blackmail.
If Iran wants sanctions relief, it must first change its sanctioned behavior.
The way forward: America needs a comprehensive policy—closely coordinated with our regional allies—to permanently prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and address the regime’s ballistic missile program, terrorism, and regional aggression.
Below are more key news items from the week.
Brian Shankman Chief Strategy Director for National Affairs
Israel Completes 40-Mile Terror Tunnel Barrier READ MORE
Israel announced the completion of a 40-mile barrier around Gaza to protect against the threat of terror tunnels this week.
Context: Palestinian terrorists in Gaza build terror tunnels, with Iranian support, to launch attacks against Israelis at the expense of helping the people of Gaza.
Just this week, a Hamas terrorist died when an underground terrorist tunnel collapsed in Gaza.
AIPAC's role: As a result of our work educating and engaging Congress on this threat, Congress has allocated over $175 million for U.S.-Israel tunnel detection cooperation.
"Without a doubt, the greatest challenge Israel and the United States face is the common threat posed by Iran. We are closely following the international community’s recent negotiations with Iran. Israel will welcome a comprehensive, diplomatic solution which permanently solves the Iranian nuclear threat. In the case of a failure to achieve such a solution, Israel is keeping all options on the table, and it must be said that if the international community does not take a vigorous stance on this issue, Israel will do so. Israel will protect itself."
During his first week in office, Ambassador Nides also met with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, and the UAE Ambassador to Israel.
The mission of AIPAC is to encourage and persuade the U.S. government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring and mutually beneficial relationship with our ally Israel.
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