The British foreign secretary, James Cleverly, arrived in Israel on Monday for a three-day visit.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen hailed Cleverly’s trip as important for deepening Israel’s ties with Britain, which he said “are currently at their peak.”

Following his arrival in Jerusalem, Cleverly met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister’s Office. Following the meeting, the PMO issued a statement, saying: “The Prime Minister underscored the importance of preventing the nuclearization of Iran and emphasized the necessity of thwarting Iran’s continued activity to undermine regional and global stability.”

“Prime Minister Netanyahu and UK Foreign Secretary Cleverly also discussed increasing bilateral cooperation in the security, technology and economic fields, and especially in artificial intelligence.”

Cleverly spoke at a conference at Reichman University on Tuesday, saying: ‘The Iranian regime has publicly and regularly called for the destruction of the State of Israel – something that Britain will never tolerate’

Israel’s foreign ministry said they discussed how to expand the so-called Abraham Accords, the U.S.-brokered deals normalizing ties between Israel and long-hostile Arab countries.

“We are working with our friends to expand the circle of peace and normalization,” Cohen said.

The foreign ministry said the two also conferred about Iran’s fast-accelerating nuclear program and the importance of halting Iranian support for regional proxies such as the Islamist terror group Hamas that rules the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Both groups have been behind an uptick in attacks on Israelis in the Shomron and in Israel this year that have claimed 31 lives so far.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem & AP)