President Joe Biden and Israeli President Isaac Herzog met at the White House on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the war against Hamas and Hezbollah and other Middle East concerns.

“But first and foremost, we have to get the hostages back,” the Israeli president asserts before stressing that the primary problem for the region is Iran, which seeks to destabilize the Mideast directly, through its proxies, by calling for the annihilation of Israel and by seeking nuclear weapons.

Cease-fire talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled, as have parallel efforts by the U.S. and others to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.