After Israel’s PM test positive "maskless" talks with US Secretary of State

Mr. Bennett also visited the northern Israeli city of Hadera on Sunday

Jerusalem:

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has tested positive for COVID-19, his office said on Monday after meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Mr Bennett, who met Mr Blinken in Jerusalem on Sunday on the sidelines of a “historic summit” of Israeli and Arab diplomats, is “feeling well and will continue his program from his home as planned,” said a report from his office. The statement said.

Also on Sunday, Mr Bennett visited the northern Israeli city of Hadera after gunmen shot and killed two police officers in an attack claimed by the jihadist Islamic State group.

Police said the two gunmen – Israeli Arabs identified by Israeli intelligence as local IS operatives – were killed by counter-terrorism officers who happened to be nearby.

Mr Bennett’s office said on Monday the prime minister would assess the situation following last night’s attack “along with the Defense, Public Security, Army Chiefs of Staff and other officials”.

Photos published by Israeli media after his visit to Hadera, during which he was also briefed about the attack by police, showed him wearing a face mask.

But the prime minister did not have a face mask on during a joint news conference with Mr Blinken on Sunday.

Top US diplomats are in Israel to attend historic talks with officials from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco – countries that normalized ties with the Jewish state in 2020.

His Egyptian counterpart will also join the group that is meeting in the Negev desert later on Monday.

Washington is in talks with Iran soon to restore the 2015 nuclear deal amid growing regional concerns.

Israel and most Gulf Arab countries are skeptical of a revived deal with Tehran, which the Jewish state considers a threat to its existence.

The Negev meeting also takes place as the United States and European allies express quiet disappointment that countries in the Middle East have not shown strong support for efforts to support Ukraine after Russia’s invasion or distanced themselves from Moscow. .

On Sunday evening, after meeting with Bennett, Blinken traveled to the Israeli-occupied West Bank for talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

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