Israel needs to do more against settler violence, Blinken tells FM Cohen

Israel needs to do more to counter violence by Israelis against Palestinians, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in a phone call on Tuesday.

Blinken said the US appreciates messages from Cohen, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant against the violent incidents that took place over the weekend, but that more action must be taken, an Israeli official with knowledge of the matter said.

Blinken's call came after repeated arson and other attacks by Jewish extremists on Palestinian villages last weekend, in apparent revenge for recent deadly Palestinian terror attacks on Israelis. The heads of the IDF, police and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) called the incidents "nationalist terror."

Cohen said that the government of Israel “fully condemns events in which citizens take the law into their own hands.”

The escalation of violence in the West Bank comes from “proxies of the Iranian Ayatollahs regime,” Cohen stated. “Iran is directing terrorism across the Middle East, from Lebanon to Syria, via Iraq and Yemen, to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Cohen also called on “the international community [to] act aggressively and unequivocally to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” which would be “a danger to the world and mark the start of a regional nuclear arms race.”

Blinken, Cohen discuss new date for Negev Forum

Cohen and Blinken also discussed the possibility of Israel establishing diplomatic relations with more Arab and Muslim countries, and a new date for the foreign ministers’ meeting of the Negev Forum.

The Negev Forum gathers the US, Israel and the Arab states with which Israel has peace, except for Jordan, to discuss multilateral matters, including security. A foreign ministers’ meeting set to take place in Morocco this year has been postponed multiple times, in part because of the Israeli government’s policies in Judea and Samaria.

“Expanding the circle of normalization and peace in the Middle East, led by the US, will advance the entire region and bring security, growth and stability,” Cohen said. “We will continue to act to build and strengthen our relations with additional countries in the Middle East and beyond.”

Cohen also expressed his appreciation for departing US Ambassador Tom Nides, who ends his tenure in Israel at the end of June.

The State Department did not release a readout of the call by press time.