WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a statement following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
“I was pleased to have a frank and productive conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu, alongside Leader Schumer and other senior Senate Democrats and Republicans. We all reiterated the United States’ ironclad support for the security of Israel and its citizens and reaffirmed the long-standing bond between our people. We discussed the importance of the full implementation of all phases of the ceasefire in Gaza and the need for Hamas to hold up its end of the deal by continuing to release all hostages, including the Americans who remain, both alive and deceased. I also stressed to Prime Minister Netanyahu the importance to Israel’s long-term security of maintaining stability in the West Bank and the need to work with our partners in the region toward a negotiated two-state outcome with a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in equal measures of peace, security and mutual recognition. Finally, I pressed that it is in both the U.S. and Israel’s strategic interest to seize this once in a generation opportunity in Lebanon and Syria to permanently marginalize Iran, deny openings to Russia and China and build a more stable and prosperous region free from terrorism. Such a future for Lebanon and the region requires our continued constructive engagement and support.”
###