Foreign Minister Liberman met with US Secretary Kerry to discuss the latest regional developments and to offer support in the war against Islamic State terror.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman reaffirmed Israel’s friendship with the US and offered to aid them in their battle against the Islamic State terror organization (IS or ISIS) during a work meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday in Washington.
Liberman told Kerry that Israel supports the US in its efforts to form a broad international front against IS and stands ready to help in this task, should it be asked.
It is assumed that Israel’s role in the war on IS will be a silent one, consisting mostly of the provision of intelligence and logistic support, but not an active part in the combat force.
According to YNET news, a senior officer in the IDF’s intelligence corps said on Wednesday that “if Israel has intelligence on ISIS targets in Syria – and are asked to share it with the international coalition – I believe that we would cooperate.”
YNET quotes the officer as saying that the radical terror group posed a serious threat and would not fade into irrelevance in the near future: “They will likely try now to entrench and disappear ahead of the upcoming campaign against them.”
Hamas and Islamic State are the Same
Liberman noted that the war against terror, in all its forms, is the most important task of the Free World today. Reiterating the Israeli government’s stance regarding the regional terror threat, he said:
“We cannot differentiate one form of terror from another. The Hamas terrorist activities against Israel and against the people of Gaza are no different from the terror of ISIS. The difference is only semantic, and in the media approach adopted by the organizations. Ultimately, the aim of all Islamic terror is one and the same: the destruction of Western civilization. Hence, just as we cannot negotiate with ISIS, we cannot negotiate with Hamas. As long as Hamas rules in Gaza, there will not be peace or security. Anyone who seeks to advance an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians must bring an end to the rule of terror within the Palestinian Authority.”
Liberman told Kerry that the need to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear state is part of the same struggle, because Iran is the number one exporter of terror in the world. “If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, the world will be a much more dangerous place and the Middle East will enter a nuclear arms race that will convulse the region even more than today. The world powers must stand firm in their negotiations with Iran and continue the sanctions, because there can be no compromise with terrorism.”
Affirmation of Israel-US Ties
Liberman thanked Kerry for America’s support of Israel during Operation Protective Edge and stressed that the Israeli leadership and people know that the US is Israel’s greatest friend.
Author: Aryeh Savir
Staff Writer, United with Israel