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SECDEF Remarks With Israeli Minister of Defense Gantz at the Pentagon

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MARK T. ESPER: Thank you, once again, for coming here today to the Pentagon to discuss the -- so many very important issues between our two countries. It was important for me, once again, to reaffirm the special relationship between our two countries, the commitment we have made to Israel's security that's based on our shared values, our shared history, the commonalities between our two peoples.

So I want to thank you for your personal efforts in the past few weeks, and I want to state, again, how committed we are to Israel's Qualitative Military Edge when it comes to defense sales, and our commitment to Israel's security, which has been longstanding and it's guaranteed and ironclad.

And again, I want to thank you personally for your work, your efforts, and – and it's been a pleasure working with you.

ISRAELI MINISTER OF DEFENSE BENJAMIN GANTZ: Thank you, Secretary Esper. Indeed, in the last few weeks, you led -- and I led -- with other people, of course – a very good, very important discussions that we assure the bipartisan commitment for Israel's security. I want to thank you, I want to thank your people, I want to thank the American administration for supporting it.

Now that we are entering an era of good and positive normalization processes in the Middle East, which actually can face aggressive Iran and all the region, this ability to cooperate and make continued cooperation, I would say, is so very important.

So I'm looking forward to host you in Israel and I want to thank you, the administration and everyone else for enabling this very, very important peace and the future is even brighter. Thank you very much.

SEC. ESPER: Thank you.