Netanyahu to meet Trump Monday, set to discuss Iran situation
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Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to travel to Washington on Monday to meet US President Donald Trump and discuss the situation in Iran, among other pending issues.
Speaking at a government meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said he would visit Washington at Trump's invitation before attending a memorial service for late US Senator Lindsey Graham, whom he described as "one of Israel's greatest friends since its inception".
"Tomorrow I will fly to Washington to meet, at his invitation, with President Trump, and afterwards to participate in the memorial service for a great friend of Israel, the late Senator Lindsey Graham. I must say, he was one of Israel's greatest friends since its inception, and it is fitting that we pay him this respect. I will also discuss all pending issues with President Trump, including the situation in Iran," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu also addressed the recent deposition of International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan.
"I think this exposed the fact that this man (Karim Khan) was not only accused of sexual harassment by several women who worked under him, which was the reason he cancelled his visit to Israel, took back what he said about Israel's legal system and the need to conduct a thorough review, and immediately moved to advance warrants against me and against former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant," Netanyahu said.
"He did this to divert attention, to rally all of Israel's haters around him, naturally, to give himself a protective shield. This shield has now been torn apart, exposing his true motivation: the injustice and the deep corruption that exists not only in the Prosecutor's office, but in the International Criminal Court as a whole," the Israeli Prime Minister added.
Netanyahu also said he had spoken with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday night.
"He (Rubio) reiterated to me the US intention to act firmly against this organisation, which endangers justice in the world and also threatens the right of democratic, sovereign states to exercise their sovereignty, and essentially attempts to subjugate their security to the decisions of a corrupt bureaucracy in The Hague. I think this is a very positive development, and I think it is important that we echo this around the world," Netanyahu said.
With IANS inputs
