WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned Sunday the U.S. is not going to shrink from its unwavering help for Israel regardless of stark variations with Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu and considerations the Biden administration could have about potential members of his incoming right-wing authorities.

Speaking to a left-leaning group that some on the suitable accuse of being too sympathetic to the Palestinians and Iran, Blinken mentioned the United States will stay a stalwart pal of Israel even because it pursues targets that Netanyahu has opposed, together with a two-state decision to the Israeli-Palestinian battle and a restoration of the languishing 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The U.S.-Israel “partnership – and all that it’s produced for the people of our nations and the world – has always been underwritten by the United States ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, a commitment that has never been stronger than it is today,” he mentioned.

Blinken mentioned the Biden administration would interact with Netanyahu’s authorities based mostly on its insurance policies and never on personalities, together with potential senior Cabinet ministers who’ve expressed vehement anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab views prior to now.

But, Blinken additionally warned that the U.S. would object to insurance policies that marginalize the Palestinians, diminish their “horizon for hope,” or make a two-state decision tougher. He mentioned these could be detrimental to Israel’s long-term safety or future as a Jewish democratic state.

“We expect the new Israeli government to continue to work with us to advance our shared values, just as we have previous governments,” he mentioned.

“We will gauge the federal government by the insurance policies it pursues fairly than particular person personalities. We will maintain it to the mutual requirements we now have established in our relationship over the previous seven a long time,” Blinken said.

U.S. officials have previously expressed concerns about the possible positions in Netanyahu’s government of at least two right-wing Israeli politicians: Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

Ben-Gvir, a lawmaker known for anti-Arab vitriol and provocative stunts, has been offered the job of national security minister, a powerful position that will put him in charge of Israel’s police force. Meanwhile, Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism party, which shares anti-Palestinian and anti-gay views, has been offered oversight over the Israeli agency for Palestinian civil affairs.

Blinken noted that the U.S.-Israel relationship is seven decades old and the Biden administration would “speak honestly” with the new Israeli government as well as the Palestinians, whose leaders he said must also refrain from raising tensions that endanger a two-state solution.

He pointed out that the Biden administration continues to support its predecessor’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and is working to expand former President Donald Trump’s “Abraham Accords” that saw several Arab nations normalize relations with Israel. He lauded the recent completion of a maritime border accord between Israel and Lebanon.

Blinken’s comments came at the annual conference of J Street, a pro-Israel group that has distinguished itself from the much larger and older American Israel Public Affairs Committee by advancing positions often supported by the Democratic party.

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