(Communicated by the Foreign Minister’s Bureau)
Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman met today (Thursday, 26 June 2014) in Paris with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. In the meeting the two ministers discussed Israel-France relations, developments in the Middle East and Israel's relations with the Palestinians.
FM Liberman told FM Fabius that the attempt by some nations and organizations to establish symmetry between the abduction of the three teenagers and actions taken by the IDF in its search for the abducted teens is erroneous, and that it is not possible to draw a parallel between the two issues or even mention them in the same breath. FM Liberman added that Israel is more observant of international law than any other country, strictly avoids causing harm to innocents and tries, even in the midst of a campaign to save three innocent teens, not to cause damage and harm to the civilian population that is not connected to terrorism.
FM Liberman further stated that on the backdrop of what is currently going on in Syria, Libya and Iraq, recurrent attempts to condemn Israel and to exert pressure regarding building in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria are detached from reality.
FM Liberman thanked FM Fabius for France's clear and decisive stance regarding Iranian attempts to achieve nuclear weapons capability with regard to the agreement currently being formulated with that country.
Ministers Liberman and Fabius discussed global developments and the increase in terrorist activities in Africa, which also has an impact on events in the Middle East and Europe. FM Liberman said that during his visit to Africa last week, the heads of state of the countries he visited clearly indicated that the chaos in Libya and massive weapon smuggling from there are one of the main reasons behind the outbreak of terrorism in East and West Africa. FM Liberman expressed his appreciation of French operations in Africa, and said that it is incumbent upon the free world to work together to prevent further harm by terrorist elements to life there.
FM Liberman also expressed his concern regarding the results of the European parliamentary elections and said that the leadership of the European countries must put their full weight against the further strengthening of the neo-fascist and anti-Semitic movements, and that the increase of these phenomena, as well as the increase in activities of extremist Islamic movements, represents a danger not only to Jews living on the continent, as we saw in the terrorist attack against the Jewish Museum in Brussels, but also on the character and security of Europe. FM Liberman expressed his appreciation for the French government's firm stand against any expression of anti-Semitism.