Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz confirmed, during a meeting in Washington with senior US officials, that the United States will support the next prime minister of Israel, regardless of his identity, following an alliance to remove Benjamin Netanyahu from his post.

US security and defense officials also told Gantz that they are helping his country develop and deploy Israel's missile defense system by providing the missiles. However, the United States stressed the need to ease tensions with Gaza.

For his part, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed that Washington supports Israel's right to defend itself, noting that providing security will benefit the Palestinians as well.

Gantz visited Washington on Wednesday after meeting opposition parties to form a government coalition aimed at removing Netanyahu from his 12-year-old position.

However, Gantz did not meet with Joe Biden, who has a strained relationship with Netanyahu, but instead met with White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.