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Pence says U.S. will stand firm with Europe, NATO

By Roberta Rampton and John Irish

MUNICH (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday brought a message of support for Europe from Donald Trump but failed to wholly reassure allies worried about the new president’s stance on Russia and the European Union.

In Pence’s first major foreign policy address for the Trump administration, the vice president told European leaders and ministers that he spoke for Trump when he promised “unwavering” commitment to the NATO military alliance.

“Today, on behalf of President Trump, I bring you this assurance: the United States of America strongly supports NATO and will be unwavering in our commitment to this transatlantic alliance,” Pence told the Munich Security Conference.

While Poland’s defense minister praised Pence, many others, including France’s foreign minister and U.S. lawmakers in Munich, remained skeptical that he had convinced allies that Trump, a former reality TV star, would stand by Europe.

Trump’s contradictory remarks on the value of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, scepticism of the 2015 deal to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions and an apparent disregard for the future of the European Union have left Europe fearful for the seven-decade-old U.S. guardianship of the West.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Twitter expressed his disappointment that Pence’s speech contained “Not a word on the European Union”, although the vice president will take his message to EU headquarters in Brussels on Monday.

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, a member of the opposition Democrats, said he saw two rival governments emerging from the Trump administration.

Pence, Trump’s defense secretary Jim Mattis and his foreign minister Rex Tillerson all delivered messages of reassurance on their debut trip to Europe.

But events in Washington, including a free-wheeling news conference Trump gave in which he branded accredited White House reporters “dishonest people”, sowed more confusion.

“Looks like we have two governments,” Murphy wrote on Twitter from Munich. The vice president “just gave speech about shared values between US and Europe as (the U.S. president) openly wages war on those values.”

The resignation of Trump’s security adviser Michael Flynn over his contacts with Russia on the eve of the U.S. charm offensive in Europe also tarnished the message Pence, Mattis and Tillerson were seeking to send, officials told Reuters.

U.S. Republican Senator John McCain, a Trump critic, told the conference on Friday that the new president’s team was “in disarray,” breaking with the American front.

The United States is Europe’s biggest trading partner, the biggest foreign investor in the continent and the European Union’s partner in almost all foreign policy, as well as the main promoter of European unity for more than sixty years.

Pence, citing a trip to Cold War-era West Berlin in his youth, said the new U.S. government would uphold the post-World War Two order.

“This is President Trump’s promise: we will stand with Europe today and every day, because we are bound together by the same noble ideals – freedom, democracy, justice and the rule of law,” Pence said.

MUTED APPLAUSE

While the audience listened intently, Pence received little applause beyond the warm reception he received when he declared his support for NATO.

Ayrault, in a speech defending Franco-German leadership in Europe, lauded the virtues of multilateralism at a time of rising nationalism. Trump has promise ‘America First.’

“In these difficult conditions, many are attempting to look inward, but this isolationism makes us more vulnerable. We need the opposite,” Ayrault said.

Pence warned allies they must pay their fair share to support NATO, noting many lack “a clear or credible path” to do so. He employed a tougher tone than Mattis, who delivered a similar but more nuanced message to NATO allies in Brussels this week, diplomats said.

The United States provides around 70 percent of the NATO alliance’s funds and European governments sharply cut defense spending since the fall of the Soviet Union. Russia’s resurgence as a military power and its seizure of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea has started to change that.

Baltic states and Poland fear Russia might try a repeat of Crimea elsewhere. Europe believes Moscow is seeking to destabilize governments and influence elections with cyber attacks and fake news.

Pence’s tough line on Russia, calling Moscow to honor the international peace accords that seek to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine, were welcomed by Poland.

“Know this: the United States will continue to hold Russia accountable, even as we search for new common ground, which as you know, President Trump believes can be found,” Pence said.

Polish Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz said Pence’s speech “highlighted on behalf of President Trump that the U.S. supports NATO, Ukraine and Europe.

“They want to show the U.S. military potential,” he said.

(Additional reporting by Noah Barkin, Andrea Shalal, Vladimir Soldatkin, John Irish and Jonathan Landay; Writing by Robin Emmott; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Stop hurling insults and listen, Pope Francis tells politicians

By Philip Pullella

ROME (Reuters) – Politicians should lower the volume of their debates and stop insulting each other, Pope Francis said on Friday, adding that leaders should be open to dialogue with perceived enemies or risk sowing the seeds of war.

“Insulting has become normal,” he said in a 45-minute-long improvised talk to university students in Rome. “We need to lower the volume a bit and we need to talk less and listen more.”

Francis, the son of Italian migrants to Argentina, also warned against anti-immigrant movements and urged that newcomers be treated “as human brothers and sisters”.

While the pope spoke mostly in general terms about the need for more dialogue in society as he answered questions from four students at the Roma Tre campus, he singled out politicians.

“In the newspapers, we see this one insulting that one, that one says this about the other one,” he said.

“But in a society where the standards of politics has fallen so much – I am talking about world society – we lose the sense of building society, of social co-existence, and social co-existence is built on dialogue.”

He spoke of “political debates on television where even before one (candidate) finishes talking, he is interrupted.”

Francis did not single out any countries for criticism. Italian political talk shows are often shrill and last year’s U.S. presidential debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were peppered with insults.

In one debate last September, for example, Trump called Clinton a “nasty woman” and she accused him of having “engaged in racist behavior”.

Francis urged everyone to seek “the patience of dialogue”.

He added: “Wars start inside our hearts, when I am not able to open myself to others, to respect others, to talk to others, to dialogue with others, that is how wars begin.”

The pope also warned against anti-immigrant movements, which have grown in the United States and a number of European countries, including Italy.

“Migrations are not a danger. They are a challenge for growth,” he said, adding it was important to integrate immigrants into host countries so they keep their traditions while learning new ones in a process of mutual enrichment.

He said immigrants should be welcomed “first of all as human brothers and sisters. They are men and women just like us.”

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

Trump nominee for Israel ambassador heckled, questioned at Senate

David Friedman possible U.S. ambassador for Israel heckled in Senate

By Doina Chiacu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel faced repeated heckling at a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday before he apologized for his stinging criticism of liberal American Jews and promised to be less inflammatory in an official capacity.

David Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer Trump has called a longtime friend and trusted adviser, has supported Jewish settlement building and advocated the annexation of the West Bank, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war.

His nomination has been fiercely opposed by some American Jewish groups.

Friedman repeatedly expressed regret for likening liberal American Jews to Jewish prisoners who worked for the Nazis during the Holocaust, telling the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in his opening statement, “I regret the use of such language.”

Trump is following through on a promised shift in U.S. policy toward Israel after years of friction between former President Barack Obama and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

Flanked by Netanyahu at a White House news conference, Trump on Wednesday dropped a U.S. commitment to a two-state solution, long a bedrock of its Middle East policy, even as he urged Netanyahu to curb settlement construction.

The heated opposition to Friedman’s nomination erupted in the hearing room as Friedman began his opening statement, with several hecklers including a man who held up the Palestinian flag and shouted about Palestinian claims to the land of Israel.

“My grandfather was exiled,” the man said before being escorted out of the room. “Palestinians will always be in Palestine!”

Democratic senators pressed Friedman on incendiary comments he made including calling Obama an anti-Semite and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer, who is Jewish, an appeaser.

“Frankly the language you have regularly used against those who disagree with your views has me concerned about your preparedness to enter the world of diplomacy,” Ben Cardin, the senior Democrat on the committee, told the nominee.

Friedman acknowledged using overheated rhetoric as part of his passionate support for the Jewish state, which has included financial support of Jewish settlements built on land claimed by Palestinians. He promised to avoid inflammatory comments as a U.S. diplomat.

He told Cardin, “There is no excuse. If you want me to rationalize it or justify it, I cannot. These were hurtful words and I deeply regret them.”

Cardin, citing Friedman’s criticism of Schumer as having done the “worst appeasement of terrorists since Munich,” retorted that those words were “beyond hurtful.”

“We need a steady hand in the Middle East, not a bomb thrower,” admonished Tom Udall, another Democrat.

‘RECANT EVERY SINGLE STRONGLY HELD BELIEF’

Under questioning, Friedman tried to soften his positions on a number of hot-button regional issues.

While expressing skepticism of a two-state solution calling for the creation of Palestinian state next to Israel, he acknowledged it was the best option for peace. He said he did not personally support Israeli annexation of the West Bank and agreed with Trump’s view that settlement activity “may not be helpful” to achieving peace.

“You’re here today having to recant every single strongly held belief that you’ve expressed, almost,” the committee’s Republican chairman, Bob Corker, noted.

Friedman is likely to be confirmed by the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham acknowledged that Friedman has said things he did not agree with but backed the nominee as qualified, experienced and passionate.

“I believe he is the right guy at the right time. He’ll be Trump’s voice. Trump won the election,” Graham said.

Five former U.S. ambassadors to Israel from both Republican and Democratic administrations urged the Senate in a letter to reject Friedman, saying that he holds “extreme, radical positions” on issues such as Jewish settlements and the two-state solution.

“We believe him to be unqualified for the position,” wrote the former ambassadors including Thomas Pickering, Edward Walker, Daniel Kurtzer, James Cunningham and William Harrop.

While campaigning for the presidency, Trump pledged to switch the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv, where it has been located for 68 years, to Jerusalem, all but enshrining the city as Israel’s capital regardless of international objections.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; editing by Frances Kerry and Cynthia Osterman)

Trump says four people under consideration for national security adviser

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he is considering four people to serve as his top aide on security, including acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg.

Kellogg, a retired general who was chief of staff of the White House National Security Council, stepped into the role after Michael Flynn resigned on Monday amid controversy over his contacts with Russia.

Trump had offered the job to retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, who turned it down on Thursday.

Trump said in a post on Twitter he was still weighing other potential candidates for the White House job.

“General Keith Kellogg, who I have known for a long time, is very much in play for NSA – as are three others,” Trump said. He gave no other details about any of the contenders.

According to two sources familiar with Harward’s decision, the senior executive at Lockheed Martin declined the offer in part because he wanted to bring in his own team.

Trump has said that Flynn’s deputy, K.T. McFarland, could stay.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Venezuela opposition parties fear election ban as Socialists dig in

By Brian Ellsworth

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s government is pushing forward with measures that could exclude some opposition political parties from future elections, potentially paving the way for the ruling Socialists to remain in power despite widespread anger over the country’s collapsing economy.

The Supreme Court, loyal to socialist president Nicolas Maduro, has ordered the main opposition parties to “renew” themselves through petition drives whose conditions are so strict that party leaders and even an election official described them as impossible to meet.

Socialist Party officials scoff at the complaints. They say anti-Maduro candidates would be able to run under the opposition’s Democratic Unity coalition, which has been exempted from the signature drives, even if the main opposition parties are ultimately barred.

But key socialist officials are also trying to have the coalition banned, accusing it of electoral fraud. Government critics point to this and the “renewal” order as signs the socialists are seeking to effectively run uncontested in gubernatorial elections and the 2018 presidential vote.

Investors holding Venezuela’s high-yielding bonds had broadly expected Maduro to be replaced with a more market-friendly government by 2019.

The prospect of opposition parties being blocked from elections could raise concern in Washington where the Trump administration this week blacklisted Venezuela’s Vice President Tareck El Aissami and called for the release of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez.

Maduro’s opponents say his strategy is similar to that of Nicaraguan leftist president Daniel Ortega, who cruised to a third consecutive election victory in November after a top court ruling ousted the leader of the main opposition party. That left Ortega running against a candidate widely seen as a shadow ally.

“The regime is preparing Nicaraguan-style elections without political parties and false opposition candidates chosen by the government,” legislator and former Congress president Henry Ramos wrote via Twitter, suggesting the government would seek to have shadow allies run as if they were part of the opposition.

The moves come as Maduro’s approval ratings hover near 20 percent due to anger over chronic food shortages that lead to routine supermarket lootings and force many Venezuelans to skip meals. His government has avoided reform measures economists say are necessary to end the dysfunction, such as lifting corruption-riddled currency controls.

The elections council has ordered parties to collect signatures from 0.5 percent of registered voters on specific weekends.

The opposition estimates parties could in some cases have to mobilize a combined total of as many as 600,000 people in a single weekend and take them to 360 authorized locations, an arrangement they call logistically implausible.

‘YOU HAVE NO PARTY’

Luis Rondon, one of five directors of the National Elections Council who tends to be a lone voice of dissent against its decisions, described the process as blocking the chances for opposition parties to stay on the rolls.

The council did not respond to a request for comment.

There is little question that sidelining the opposition would be the Socialist Party’s easiest way to remain in power.

Socialist Party leaders have sought to delegitimize opposition parties by accusing them of involvement in terrorism. They point to the opposition’s past, which includes a bungled coup attempt in 2002 against late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

Maduro’s ballot-box weakness was put on display when the Democratic Unity coalition took two thirds of the seats in Congress in 2015, the opposition’s biggest win since Chavez took office in 1999.

Socialist Party legislator Hector Rodriguez described the “renewal” process as a “simple requirement,” insisting that “a political party that does not have the capacity to collect that amount (of signatures) cannot be considered a national party.”

Still, Socialist Party officials have done little to dispel fears they are trying to bar opponents from elections.

Following complaints that gubernatorial elections were being stalled, Socialist Party No. 2 Diosdado Cabello reminded the opposition that they could not take part in any race until they complied with the “renewal” order.

“Who would benefit if we held elections tomorrow?” asked Cabello during a January episode of his television talk show ‘Hitting with the Mallet’, in which he often wields a spiked club. “If you want we could hold elections tomorrow and you wouldn’t participate because you have no party.”

Even without pushing parties aside, the Maduro government has already blocked key opposition figures or laid the groundwork to do so.

Lopez, a former mayor, remains behind bars for leading anti-government protests in 2014 following a trial that one of the state prosecutors involved called a mockery of justice.

And the national comptroller has said he is considering barring state governor and ex-presidential candidate Henrique Capriles from holding office on alleged irregularities in managing public funds.

Pollster Luis Vicente Leon, who is openly critical of the government, said continuing delays to the election for governors is a sign the Socialist Party may do the same for other elections in which it faces long odds.

“Once you seek mechanisms by which you avoid, delay, impede or block an election, why wouldn’t you block the rest?” he said in a recent radio interview.

“It’s not that these elections (for governors) are in jeopardy, it’s that all elections are in jeopardy.”

(Editing by Christian Plumb and Andrew Hay)

Trump to name Republican media firm owner to run communications: reports

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump is poised to tap a Republican media relations firm owner to oversee his White House communications, according to media reports on Friday.

Crossroads Media founder Mike Dubke is expected to be named White House communications director, CNN, NBC and Fox News reported, a move that could help spokesman Sean Spicer, who has handled both duties since Trump took office last month.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports, and Crossroads Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CNN, citing two administration officials, said the announcement could come as soon as Friday, adding that Dubke did not respond to a request for comment.

The appointment would help round out Trump’s communications team, which also includes Hope Hicks, director of strategic communications, and Dan Scavino, director of social media.

Trump’s previous choice to serve as director of communications, Jason Miller, declined the job in December.

Dubke’s appointment could help shore up Trump’s messaging efforts.

Spicer and Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway gave differing accounts on Monday before Michael Flynn resigned from his post as national security adviser amid controversy over his contacts with Russia. Conway told a television network that Flynn had Trump’s full confidence, while Spicer soon after told reporters that Trump was evaluating Flynn.

Conway also publicly endorsed Ivanka Trump products in a recent television interview, prompting a call by the Office of Government Ethics for disciplinary action for appearing to violate government ethics rules.

A graduate of Hamilton College in New York, Dubke helped launch another communications firm in Virginia, the Black Rock Group, according to Crossroads’ website.

(Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

France says U.S. position on Middle East peace ‘confused and worrying’

French and German leaders worried about US's decision to back Israel in Two State Solution

By John Irish

BONN, Germany (Reuters) – France considers the U.S. position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “confused and worrying”, its foreign minister said on Thursday, reacting to U.S. President Trump’s dropping of the America’s commitment to a two-state solution.

Jean-Marc Ayrault met Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at a G20 meeting of foreign ministers in Bonn where, he said, he got some reassurance about Washington’s stance on Russia, but little on the Middle East.

“I found that there was a bit more precision (on foreign policy) even if I found that on the Israeli-Palestinian dossier it was very confused and worrying,” Ayrault said of his meeting.

“I wanted to remind him after the meeting between Donald Trump and (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu that in France’s view there are no other options other than the perspective of a two-state solution and that the other option which Mr Tillerson brought up was not realistic, fair or balanced.”

He did not specify what other option Tillerson had proposed. At a news conference in Washington with Netanyahu on Wednesday, Trump said: “I am looking at two-state, and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like.”

On Russia, Ayrault said he was happy to hear Tillerson say that sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine would only be lifted if there was progress on the Minsk agreement to end fighting in east Ukraine.

“With Russia we have some serious points of disagreement and they have to be put on the table. It’s not by making friendly statements that problems will be resolved,” Ayrault told reporters. Tillerson remained “quite general” on the subject, he said.

Having just returned from Tehran, Ayrault said he was concerned by the new administration’s calls to review from scratch the agreement between major powers and Iran over its nuclear program.

“The deal must be completely respected by Iran, but it is out of the question to open up a new construction site for an agreement that was reached in difficulty. I sense that there was a difference of opinion or at least question marks,” he said.

He said the real debate on Iran now was not the nuclear deal, but its “interference” in the region, especially Syria and Iraq.

When asked whether Tillerson had clarified the U.S. position on Syrian peace negotiations and whether it still backed U.N. efforts, Ayrault said it appeared so, but that more talks would take place on Friday.

“Between the campaign speech, the tweets and what I heard from Tillerson, it’s the start of clarification,” Ayrault said, referring to the administration’s foreign policy.

(Editing by Louise Ireland)

Russia to share intelligence with Philippines, train Duterte guards

MANILA (Reuters) – Russia’s top security official on Thursday offered the Philippines access to an intelligence database to help it fight crime and militancy, and training for the elite forces assigned to protect President Rodrigo Duterte.

Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council and Vladimir Putin’s top security adviser, made the offer during a meeting between Russian and Philippine security officials in Davao, where he was visiting Duterte at his home city.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the Russia had invited the Philippines to join a database-sharing system to help combat trans-national crime and terrorism, which he said could help track Islamist militants and their financial transactions.

In an interview with Reuters last week, Lorenzana said there were “very strong” links between Islamic State and militants in the Philippines.

Patrushev’s trip underlines Russia’s intent to capitalize on a radical recalibration of foreign policy under Duterte, who harbors resentment of the Philippines’ deep-rooted ties to the United States.

Duterte has made strong overtures towards China and Russia.

He praised Putin’s leadership when he met him at an international summit late last year. He also he talked at length to Putin about what he called U.S. “hypocrisy”.

Lorenzana said security officials from both sides also discussed law enforcement cooperation, including anti-piracy and anti-narcotics exercises by coastguard and police.

The two countries were working on a military technical cooperation agreement, he said, and Russia offered to provide enhanced training for troops protecting Duterte.

Duterte will visit Moscow in May.

“We are keen on signing a defense cooperation agreement,” Lorenzana said of that trip.

Lorenzana said last week Russia was interested in selling military equipment to the Philippines, like drones, helicopters, rifles and submarines.

(Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Martin Petty)

Trump’s defense chief sees no military collaboration with Russia

By Phil Stewart and Robin Emmott

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s defense secretary on Thursday said he did not see the conditions for military collaboration with Russia, in a blow to Moscow’s hopes for repairing ties with the United States following Trump’s election.

“We are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level. But our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground,” Jim Mattis told reporters after talks at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Asked whether he believed that Russia interfered in U.S. presidential elections, Mattis said: “Right now, I would just say there’s very little doubt that they have either interfered or they have attempted to interfere in a number of elections in the democracies.”

Mattis’ remarks came shortly after his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu expressed readiness to resume cooperation with the Pentagon and the same day Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was in the interests of both nations to restore communications between their intelligence agencies.

“It’s in everyone’s interest to resume dialogue between the intelligence agencies of the United States and other members of NATO,” Putin said, addressing Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

“It’s absolutely clear that in the area of counter-terrorism all relevant governments and international groups should work together.”

Mattis told a closed-door session of NATO on Wednesday that the alliance needed to be realistic about the chances of restoring a cooperative relationship with Moscow and ensure its diplomats could “negotiate from a position of strength”.

That prompted a terse reply from Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

“Attempts to build a dialogue with Russia from a position of strength would be futile,” Shoigu was quoted as saying by news agency TASS.

Mattis shot back: “I have no need to respond to the Russian statement at all. NATO has always stood for military strength and protection of the democracies and the freedoms we intend to pass on to our children.”

The back-and-forth was the latest indication from the Trump administration that rebuilding U.S. ties with Moscow could be more difficult than Trump might have thought before his election.

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia hacked and leaked Democratic emails during the presidential campaign as part of efforts to tilt the vote in the Nov. 8 election in Trump’s favor.

Concerns over the extent of Russian interference have been magnified since Trump forced out national security adviser, Michael Flynn, on Monday.

Flynn resigned after disclosures he had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office, and that he later misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.

Congressional inquiries into alleged Russian interference in the U.S. elections are gaining momentum as Capitol Hill investigators press intelligence and law enforcement agencies for access to classified documents.

The FBI and several U.S. intelligence agencies are investigating Russian espionage operations in the United States.

They are also looking at contacts in Russia between Russian intelligence officers or others with ties to President Vladimir Putin’s government and people connected to Trump or his campaign.

(This story has been refiled to add Mattis’ first name in second paragraph.)

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; editing by John Stonestreet)

Israel’s Netanyahu urges Britain to join Iran sanctions

By Michael Holden and William James

LONDON (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged “responsible nations” to join new sanctions against Iran on Monday during a visit to London, but Britain defended a nuclear deal sealed between major powers and Tehran.

Ahead of his talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Netanyahu said other nations should follow new U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of sanctions against Iran following a ballistic missile test.

“Iran seeks to annihilate Israel. It seeks to conquer the Middle East, it threatens Europe, it threatens the West, it threatens the world. And it offers provocation after provocation,” Netanyahu told May ahead of their meeting.

“That’s why I welcome President Trump’s assistance of new sanctions against Iran. I think other nations should follow suit, certainly responsible nations. I’d like to talk to you about how we can ensure that Iran’s aggression does not go unanswered.”

May’s spokeswoman said the British leader had repeated her backing for the nuclear deal with Tehran – which is strongly opposed by both Netanyahu and Trump – but said there was a need to “rigorously monitor” Iran’s behavior.

“The prime minister made clear that we support the deal on nuclear that was agreed,” the spokeswoman told reporters, when asked whether Britain was considering joining new sanctions.

“What happens now is that (the nuclear deal) needs to be properly enforced, and we also need to be alert to Iran’s pattern of destabilizing activity in the region.”

Earlier the spokeswoman said May would also tell Netanyahu that continued Israeli settlement activity in occupied lands captured in the 1967 Middle East War on which the Palestinians hope to create independent state undermined trust in the region.

“STRONG AND CLOSE ALLY OF ISRAEL”

Despite their differences, London has adopted a more positive approach to Israel since May became leader after last year’s vote to leave the European Union, echoing the more sympathetic tone set by Trump, with whom Britain wishes to secure a post-Brexit trade deal.

May told Netanyahu that Britain was a “strong and close friend of Israel”, and highlighted their co-operation in science, trade and security.

They agreed to set up a working group to develop trade ties both before and after Brexit, the spokeswoman said.

Last month Britain said it had reservations about a French-organized Middle East peace conference in Paris and did not back the final communique by 70 countries which reaffirmed that only a two-state solution could resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Its stance angered many EU members.

In December, Britain also scolded then U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for a speech criticizing Israeli policy.

Netanyahu’s talks on Monday got off to an awkward start as he arrived before May was at her official Downing Street residence to greet him. Having entered her office alone, he came back outside minutes later for the customary handshake.

Small groups of pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters gathered outside Downing Street and Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, said May’s stance on settlements was not good enough.

“Theresa May must make clear to the Israeli prime minister that the British government will stand unequivocally behind the rights of the Palestinian people,” said Corbyn, who once described members of Palestinian group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah as friends in comments he later said he regretted.

(Editing by Gareth Jones)

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