(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Wednesday, 18 February 2015), at his Jerusalem office, met with US Senator David Perdue (R-GA) and told him at the start of their meeting:
 
"Senator, welcome to Jerusalem. Your visit here demonstrates your friendship and your commitment to the strong American-Israeli alliance.
 
Today the forces of militant Islam are on the march throughout the Middle East. Islamic State just barbarically massacred 21 Egyptian civilians in Libya. Our hearts go out to the families and to the people of Egypt facing this horrible savagery. And Israel will continue to stand side-by-side with Egypt in the battle against terrorism, which threatens us all.
 
While Islamic State butchers the innocent, the Islamic Republic of Iran is relentlessly pursuing nuclear weapons with the express purpose of destroying the State of Israel. The P5+1's latest proposal won't stop them. The Iranians of course know the details of that proposal and Israel does too. So when we say that the current proposal would lead to a bad deal, a dangerous deal, we know what we're talking about, Senator. I'm open to hearing the positions and arguments of those who think differently and I would hope that they would be open to hear the arguments of Israel as well."