New Israeli Prime Minister Praises JINSA in Meeting with Leadership Delegation
A small delegation of leaders from the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) today met with newly elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The closed door meeting at Blair House, held just prior to the prime minister’s first meeting with President Clinton, saw a substantive discussion of mutual American-Israeli interests including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the recent security protocols between Israel and Turkey.
A small delegation of leaders from the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) today met with newly elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The closed door meeting at Blair House, held just prior to the prime minister’s first meeting with President Clinton, saw a substantive discussion of mutual American-Israeli interests including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the recent security protocols between Israel and Turkey.
Prime Minister Netanyahu opened the meeting by thanking JINSA for the consistency and steadfast defense of its principles over the past few years. He noted with admiration that JINSA was never cowed by those who questioned its legitimacy and analysis.
The nuclear aspirations of Iran and Iraq were singled out by Prime Minister Netanyahu as a serious problem for Israel and the United States. Concerns were raised about the West’s ability to deter the use of weapons of mass destruction, and it was noted that a number of other countries are similarly worrisome in that regard.
The recently signed security cooperation agreements between Israel and Turkey also came up for discussion. Over the past four years, JINSA has been intensively involved in promoting U.S.-Turkey-Israel relations, and believe the agreements have substantively changed the security environment of that region for the better. JINSA encourages President Clinton to publicly support Turkey’s positive role on behalf of Western objectives and specifically for its brave and farsighted alliance with Israel, America’s best friend in the region.