(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Wednesday, 5 September 2018), at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, met with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. Later today the two prime ministers will attend the dedication of the monument in Tel Aviv [see below].
 
Prime Minister Netanyahu:
 
"We are not only personal friends of long duration, but there’s a special friendship between the people of Bulgaria and the people of Israel.
 
This is expressed again and again in our mutual visits, our frequent conversations. We speak to each other every few weeks, and I appreciate your coming here to honor the Jews of Bulgaria that were saved during the Holocaust.
 
I appreciate your decision to open an honorary consulate in Jerusalem, and I hope, I hope, I hope it’s the first step towards establishing the Bulgarian embassy in Jerusalem.
 
We are going to speak about the other areas of cooperation between us in many fields: in cyber, in intelligence, in health, in water and more. But I think beyond the field of common interests, which we have many, there is this deep sympathy and a deep affection for the state of Bulgaria, the people of Bulgaria, from the people of Israel and the Bulgarian Jews who came to Israel.
 
We feel we are part of the same civilization. That civilization is under attack by a variety of forces, most notably the forces of militant Islam, and the terror it espouses. It attacks us, it attacks Arabs, it attacks Europeans, it attacks Americans, it attacks everyone. And it attacked you in Bulgaria. We’re joined also not only in promoting a good future, but preventing a return to a violent past.
 
I look forward in our conversation to discuss how we can further strengthen the good, and also further fight the bad to ensure a better future for our own peoples and for the world."
 
Prime Minister Netanyahu added:
 
"Let me say that this monument to the saving of Jews, Bulgarian Jews in Sofia, is something that evokes a special feeling in my heart and the hearts of the Jewish people, because it was an instance of honor and dignity and courage that not only saved Jews, but saved the honor of mankind. And therefore the battle against anti-Semitism that was so courageously manifested in Sofia, has to continue today in every country, and I trust that you will continue it."