Press Releases: Remarks With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Before Their Meeting

Press Releases: Remarks With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Before Their Meeting
Remarks

Michael R. Pompeo
Secretary of State

Warsaw, Poland

February 14, 2019

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PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: I want to thank Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence and the Trump administration for putting together an extraordinary conference. As you can see, Mr. Secretary, yesterday was a historical turning point. In a room of some 60 foreign ministers and representatives of dozens of governments, an Israeli prime minister and the foreign ministers of the leading Arab countries stood together and spoke with unusual force, clarity, and unity against the common threat of the Iranian regime. I think this marks a change, an important understanding of what threatens our future, what we have to do to secure it, and the possibilities of cooperation that extend beyond security to every realm of life for the peoples of the Middle East. This happened here, it happened in Warsaw, and I think the main conclusion that I have is that it must continue in other forms and other ways for the same purpose, and for that I want to thank you, Secretary Pompeo, for doing this. It’s important.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. I just want to say thank you for being here, Mr. Prime Minister. We appreciate you being here a great deal. It matters. This is a global challenge in the Middle East and I look forward to a successful day here where we’ll continue to build on what happened last night between all the parties who are deeply interested and committed to ensuring that we push back against all of the threats – including Iran – in the Middle East. So thank you all.

QUESTION: Secretary Pompeo, does this summit deals with ways to combat or to fight Iran, like Prime Minister Netanyahu said yesterday?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, look, you can’t achieve peace and stability in the Middle East without confronting Iran. It’s just not possible. They’re a malign influence in Lebanon, in Yemen, in Syria, in Iraq, the three H’s: the Houthis, Hamas, and Hizballah. These are real threats; there are others as well. But you can’t get peace in the Middle East without pushing back against Iran.

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Published February 14, 2019 at 10:44AM
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