The head of the occupation government, Naftali Bennett, said he would work to expand settlements in the West Bank and would oppose U.S. - lead attempts to reinstate the nuclear agreement with Iran.

This came in a Bennett interview with the New York Times of America, his first with an international news organization since assuming the presidency of the occupation government in June to succeed Benjamin Netanyahu, and just before meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden tomorrow Thursday, on his first visit since taking office.

Bennett stressed that he would expand the West Bank settlements that Biden opposed and refrained from supporting American plans to reopen a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem, excluding a peace agreement with the Palestinians under his leadership.

During a meeting with Biden, he would try to reset the tone of the "Israel" relationship with the United States, which had been tense between Netanyahu and democratic administrations, pledging to reach the White House with a new and constructive approach to containing Iran's nuclear program, and to find common ground with the Biden administration on Tehran.

Bennett stated that he would present a new strategic vision on Iran, "which would include strengthening relations with Arab States opposed to Tehran's regional influence and nuclear ambitions, taking diplomatic and economic action against Iran, and continuing covert Israeli attacks against it."

He revealed that his government would "adopt a long-term policy of expanding existing settlements in the West Bank, which many of the world considers illegal under international law, and an obstacle to the establishment of a future Palestinian State in the occupied territories."

Bennett declined to comment directly on whether he would impede the Biden administration's efforts to reopen the United States Consulate of Palestinians in Jerusalem, which was closed by former President Donald Trump in 2019, but stressed that "Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, not the capital of other countries."