WASHINGTON — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had a “candid” conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend about Iran’s nuclear capabilities — delivering a message “directly” from President Trump, The Post learned.
Noem travelled to Israel and met with Netanyahu on Trump’s behalf, where the two spoke about Israel’s security and visited the border with Gaza. She also offered the US’s condolences for Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, the two Israeli embassy workers who were shot in a terrorist attack in DC last week.
The meeting was part of Noem’s larger jaunt to Italy, Bahrain and Poland, where she also spoke to world leaders about advancing US security interests.
While in Israel, “the Secretary and Prime Minister had a candid conversation where the Secretary reiterated POTUS’s desire to bring peace to the region and for Iran to never have a nuclear weapon,” a readout of the meeting read.
Trump has been adamant on Iran not acquiring a nuclear weapon and has made it his foreign policy mission to enforce the message that the US will not stop until Tehran abandons the idea.
While the contents of the conversation weren’t entirely clear, Israel has reportedly been considering striking Iran’s nuclear facilities if the US-Iran talks don’t work out.
However, Trump has warned Netanyahu that he would rather achieve the goal diplomatically, instead of the “more severe and negative option,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week.
“President Trump specifically sent me here to have a conversation with the prime minister about how those negotiations are going and how important it is that we stay united and let this process play out,” Noem told “Fox & Friends” Monday about her conversation with Netanyahu.
“It was a very candid conversation.”
Trump pulled out of the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018, but has made clear that he will ensure Iran doesn’t achieve nuclear capability under his watch. The president has directed his administration to hold talks with Tehran about stopping their nuclear program — and has threatened to bomb their atomic sites.
“Well, we could actually blow ’em up. Blow ’em up, or just de-nuke ’em,” Trump told Hugh Hewitt on May 7 about Iran’s nuclear sites. “But there are only two alternatives, blow ’em up nicely or blow ’em up viciously.”
Noem also held a candle lighting ceremony and tree planting for Milgrim and Lischinsky alongside Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
In Italy, Noem spoke to Italian Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi about the US and Italy working together to combat “transnational crime, including efforts to disrupt human trafficking, smuggling networks, and organized criminal activity,” the readout said.
Noem also went to Bahrain, where she met with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and spoke to US Coast Guard personnel, and Poland, where she met with President Andrzej Duda about US bilateral relations.
