Jerusalem (AFP) - US President Joe Biden and Israel's Prime Minister Yair Lapid will sign a security pact Thursday affirming their united front against Iran, after holding bilateral talks in Jerusalem.
Before the leaders started a closed-door meeting in Biden's first trip to the Middle East as president, a US official told reporters the agreed declaration marked a "significant" pledge on joint security.
"It includes a commitment to never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon and to address Iran's destabilising activities, particularly threats to Israel," said a Biden administration official, requesting anonymity.
Biden, who touched down in Israel on Wednesday, will hold bilateral talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders before flying to Saudi Arabia.
Lapid, Israel's caretaker leader ahead of an election later this year, said they discussed "the Iranian threat".
"There will be no nuclear Iran.this is not only a threat to Israel, but to the world," he said.
According to the US official, the security declaration would reaffirm "unbreakable bonds between our countries and expanding on the long standing security relationship between the United States and Israel".
An Israeli official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the document was "going to be a living testimony to the unique quality, health, scope, depth and intimacy of the US-Israel relationship."
Israel is staunchly opposed to a nuclear deal Iran signed with world powers in 2015 and which Biden is trying to get back on track after his predecessor Donald Trump withdrew from the accord.
Biden said pulling out of the landmark agreement was a "gigantic mistake".
Iran was "closer to a nuclear weapon now than they were before", the US president said in an interview aired Wednesday by Israel's Channel 12.
Asked whether the United States would use force to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Biden said: "If that was the last resort, yes."
Saudi oil talks
The president's meeting with Lapid was followed by multilateral talks on investment with leaders of India and the United Arab Emirates, who joined remotely.
In addition to meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Biden will hold brief talks with Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
The right-wing former prime minister is readying for the upcoming election campaign, with Israelis set to go to the polls for the fifth time in less than four years on November 1.
Biden is marking his tenth visit to Israel and is well-acquainted with Netanyahu.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine will remain a top priority for the Biden administration during his regional tour, with volatile oil prices due to be the focus of talks with Saudi officials.
The president will seek to persuade Saudi Arabia to pump more oil in order to drive down prices, which have fuelled US inflation to the highest levels in decades.
Israel has sought a delicate balance towards the Ukraine war, conscious of Russian forces in neighbouring Syria, its million citizens with ties to the former Soviet Union, and its firm US alliance.
Israeli officials have condemned the conflict in broad terms but the government has refused to send weapons to the Ukrainian army.
No 'top down peace plan'
Biden on Wednesday addressed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by renewing Washington's long-standing call for a two-state solution, but he has not reversed Trump's controversial decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
The American leader is due to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Friday in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, and pledge US financial support.
The US official said that would include "a significant funding package" for hospitals that serve Palestinians in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as their future capital.
Biden's administration will also announce measures towards providing 4G internet access in the West Bank and Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip, the US official said, addressing a persistent Palestinian frustration.
But, with Israel in political limbo ahead of its election, Biden is not expected to push Lapid for significant policy changes regarding the Palestinians.
"We are not going to come in with a top down peace plan because we don't believe that would be the best approach," the US official said.
But, "if the two parties are prepared to talk, we will be there," the official added.
