Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the visit to Jerusalem by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reflects the strength of the alliance between Israel and the United States.
The Israeli prime minister called the US Secretary of State an “extraordinary friend” of Israel and said the relationship between the two countries “is as strong and enduring as the stones of the Western Wall that we just touched.”
"Under President Donald Trump and Secretary Rubio, this alliance has never been stronger, and we are deeply grateful for that," Netanyahu told reporters after offering prayers at the Western Wall with Rubio and Washington's envoy to Israel, Mike Huckabee.
The visit of the US Secretary of State coincided with an intensification of the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip and the proximity of a key debate in the United Nations (UN) on the recognition of the Palestinian State.
Rubio, accompanied by Netanyahu and Huckabee, toured the Western Wall in Jerusalem in a public display of US support for Israel, as the international community expresses concern over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the recent diplomatic escalation following an Israeli attack on Hamas's terrorist leadership in Doha.
On the eve of his trip, the Secretary of State indicated that he sought to engage with Israeli authorities on the future of Gaza, particularly in the wake of the attack in Qatar.
Rubio's agenda in Israel continued despite Donald Trump's own displeasure at not having been informed in advance of the Israeli attack in Doha. On Friday, Rubio and Trump met with the Qatari prime minister to discuss the aftermath of the Israeli operation.
However, Rubio downplayed the impact of the deteriorating relationship between Washington and Israel following the recent attack in Doha, Qatar, saying the crackdown on leaders of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas would not change bilateral ties. “What happened happened. We weren’t happy, and the president wasn’t happy either,” he said Saturday before leaving for Israel.
Netanyahu wrote on his social media profile X a message to his enemies in the Middle East: “The Hamas terrorist leaders living in Qatar do not care about the people of Gaza. They blocked all attempts at a ceasefire in order to prolong the war indefinitely.” “Getting rid of them would remove the main obstacle to freeing all our hostages and ending the war,” he declared before his meeting with the US Secretary of State.
In that sense, Rubio calmed the tension between the United States and Israel before taking the flight, seeking a ceasefire in Gaza: “It's not going to change the nature of our relationship with the Israelis, but we're going to have to talk about it, mainly about what impact this has.”
Meanwhile, during the stay of the American head of state, a tribute is planned for the American conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was murdered last Wednesday at Utah Valley University.
Israeli Minister of Diaspora and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli will also attend the ceremony. According to the Israeli NGO Peace Now, Rubio will be present at the inauguration of a tourist tunnel in the Silwan neighborhood of the Israeli capital.
