(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning (Monday, 3 July 2017), at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting, made the following remarks:
 
"Israel is a democracy, the only true democracy in the Middle East, and as such we have special ties with the democratic world.
 
Over the weekend I met with many leaders from the democracies of Europe, from the EU, at a very moving gathering in which we took our leave from a friend of Israel, Chancellor Helmut Kohl. The attitude toward Israel was very warm and friendly and included many things that are important to our security and our economy.
 
Today we are celebrating the festive day of the strongest democracy in the world, our greatest friend – the United States; our alliance with it is strengthening. I am certain that I will see many of you at the Fourth of July festivities this evening at the US Ambassador's residence in Herzliya.
 
Tomorrow, my friend Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Israel; India is the largest democracy in the world. This is an historic first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Israel in 70 years and it attests to the fact that our relations with India have become closer in recent years.
 
This is the fruit of my and his initiated policy. We discussed it several years ago at our first meeting at the UN in New York and afterward in Davos, and our governments and peoples are sharing in this effort to build a strong friendship between us.
 
This visit will deepen cooperation in a range of areas – security, agriculture, water, energy, almost every field in which Israel is engaged. I will accompany the Prime Minister at many events during his visit as befits the leader of the largest democracy in the world."