Vice President Kamala Harris met with President Isaac Herzog of Israel. The Vice President reaffirmed our ironclad commitment to Israel's security and emphasized her determination to continue to strengthen the bonds between our countries. The leaders reiterated their commitment to the common values, including support for strong democracies and democratic institutions, that have been the bedrock of the U.S.-Israel relationship for decades.
They discussed the growing partnerships between Israel and the United States in innovation and technology to tackle global challenges such as the climate crisis. Building on this cooperation, they announced a new joint initiative between the United States and Israel, working with the U.S. Congress, with the intent to invest $70 million, with up to $35 million from the United States and up to $35 million from Israel, to advance climate smart agriculture technologies in the Middle East and Africa. This initiative will deploy Israeli and American technology to farmers and innovators, and could for example include deploying new water efficiency technologies on rural African and Middle Eastern farms, expanding access to certain apps to help increase food production, investing in training, technical assistance, and education, or other programming options.
Vice President Harris also noted the importance of continuing to work towards a world where Israelis and Palestinians can live safely and securely and enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity, and security, and reaffirmed that the best way to achieve this goal is through two states. She stressed the importance of preventing terrorism and taking steps to improve the security and economic situation in the West Bank, including through renewable energy projects to help spur Palestinian economic growth. The leaders also discussed a number of important regional issues including our joint commitment to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and countering its destabilizing actions, and the tremendous opportunity presented by further integrating Israel into the Middle East to create a more peaceful and prosperous region. Finally, the two discussed the recently launched U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and their joint commitment, and that of Second Gentlemen Douglas Emhoff, to address this scourge.
