Netanyahu, Trump hold call ahead of planned US meeting

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday evening that he had spoken with U.S. President Donald Trump, congratulating him ahead of the 250th anniversary of American independence to be marked on July 4, Israeli media reported.

Netanyahu said the two leaders agreed to meet in the United States in the near future. The meeting is expected to take place in September on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“During the conversation, the prime minister stated that the United States is the guarantor of global freedom and that Israel highly values its close ties (with the U.S.),” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

The remarks came minutes after the prime minister’s office issued a separate statement in English denying a report by The New York Times that the Trump administration had been concerned Israel was planning an assassination attempt against Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf during talks.

“As usual, The New York Times' latest story about Israel and the Iranian negotiators is fake news. A complete fabrication of reality,” Netanyahu’s office said.

By Tamilla Hasanova