Secretary Mattis Hosts Enhanced Honor Cordon Welcoming Israeli Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman to Pentagon

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JAMES N. MATTIS:  Well, Minister Lieberman, Ambassador Dermer, members of the delegation, it's a privilege to welcome you back to the Pentagon.  And I would just say it's good, at this time, to reaffirm the U.S.- Israel relations after your visit here in October, and Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit to the White House last month.  

I think it was May 15th of 1948, when the modern state of Israel declared independence from British administration.  We also declared our independence from British administration a few years earlier, so we understand what was going on there.

But as we mark the 70th anniversary of your independence, and just also, 70 years of diplomatic relations between our two nations, and the strength of that bond between U.S. and Israel is always clear.  

As President Reagan said in 1982, "America has never flinched from its commitment to the state of Israel, a commitment which remains unshakable."  

During his latest visit, Prime Minister Netanyahu reinforced the durability of this relationship, emphasizing that the U.S. and Israel's tremendous friendship has never been stronger, and our unwavering bond is built now on a foundation of mutual respect, shared democratic values, and aligned global interests, coupled, of course, with decades, now, of robust defense cooperation.  I think our militaries have never worked more closely together than they do today, and this is exemplified through the recent joint exercises and trainings, like joint Cobra exercise held in Israel last month, very recently.  It keeps the U.S. force and the Israeli defense forces fit for our times.

These exercises further enhanced our militaries' shared capabilities, their joint lethality, and interoperability, while bolstering our ability to respond rapidly in times of need.  Our continued military-to-military cooperation is critical to making a stable and secure Middle East a reality, especially in the face of an Iran intent on spreading its malign influence across the region.  

Minister, I look forward to discussing these issues, and to listening to your ideas on how to further bolster our defense relationship in response to the shared challenges we face.  You, your ideas and your officers are always welcome here in the Pentagon.

If you'd like to say a few words in front of the press, Mr. Minister.

MINISTER AVIGDOR LIEBERMAN:  Thank you very much, Your Excellence, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Chief of Staff General Dunford.  It's really a great pleasure and honor for me to visit again, and to discuss all (inaudible) on our agenda.  

I would like to express my appreciation for our cooperation, for your assistance, and for our unique bilateral relations.  Both of us respect rule of law; a very strong commitment to democracy, to assuring the same values.  And of course, today we are facing a lot of shared interests that both of us will discuss during this meeting.

We admire the president's decision, President Trump's decision to remove your embassy to Jerusalem.  It's historical decision, and again, we appreciate this.  

Regarding the stress in the Middle East, no doubt, the biggest challenge, the biggest threat to all stability in the Middle East -- and maybe not only the Middle East.  It's Iranian strife, as their efforts to undermine stability in every country -- in Yemen, in Lebanon, in Syria, in Iraq, and of course, their nuclear ambitions.

I hope that we will translate our meeting to some very, very concrete, tangible steps on the ground, and again, thank you for your support.  Of course, your assistance to our -- our special missile program, the stage of development BMD program.  I see in this cooperation also proved itself in the last years.  Thank you again.

SEC. MATTIS:  Thank you, Mr. Minister, and ladies and gentlemen of the press, if you'll excuse us, we will get to work now.

Q:  Mr. Secretary, do you agree with the Israeli assessment that the weapons shipment from Iran to Syria are for the purpose of striking Israel?

SEC. MATTIS:  I can't think of any other purpose for them right now.

Q:  Will the U.S. withdraw from the JCPOA?

SEC. MATTIS:  We have not made a decision on that yet.

Q:  Mr. Secretary, do you have concerns that Russia is thinking about providing the S-300 missile system to the Syrian -- the Syrian regime?

SEC. MATTIS:  I think anything that's done to continue this fighting in Syria is -- is actually a tragedy.  We need to all get behind the Geneva Convention process -- or, the Geneva process, and come to a diplomatic solution for this.  And Staffan de Mistura has been trying, and Russia needs to help him if they want to see a way forward to a more stable Middle East.

OK, thanks very much now.  We have to get to work, ladies and gentlemen.  (inaudible), now.

Eds. note: [Eds: The date when the modern state of Israel declared independence from British administration was May 14, 1948.]