PM Netanyahu meets with British PM Theresa May
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this afternoon (Thursday, 2 November 2017), at 10 Downing Street in London, met with UK Prime Minister Theresa May.
Prime Minister Netanyahu:
"Well, thank you, Prime Minister May, first for this welcome. Also for inviting me to mark with pride a great historical event, a great event in Jewish history, British history and world history.
A hundred years ago, the Balfour Declaration helped pave the way for the reestablishment of an independent state for the Jewish people in our ancestral homeland.
A hundred years later, our two countries, our two democracies – Israel and Britain – are strong allies and partners.
We cooperate closely on intelligence. We cooperate closely in the battle against terrorism. And we’ve saved, through this cooperation, countless lives – British lives, Israeli lives.
We cooperate in cybersecurity, in technology, in business and enterprise. We share the values of freedom and democracy and peace.
Israel is committed to peace, I’m committed to peace.
A hundred years after Balfour, the Palestinians should finally accept the Jewish national home and finally accept the Jewish state. And when they do, the road to peace will be infinitely closer. In my opinion, peace will be achievable.
But there are great things that are happening in the Middle East, because many Arab countries now see Israel not as an enemy, but as their indispensable ally in the battle against militant Islam.
The threat we all see is a resurgent Iran that is bent not only on dominating the region, but bent on developing nuclear weapons.
The goal that I have in mind is not keeping or eliminating the deal; it’s improving the deal and correcting its main flaws. And I think those who want to keep the deal should cooperate in correcting the deal.
I have some concrete ideas, which I look forward to discussing with you, and I want once again to thank you for your resolute stand against anti-Semitism, for your resolute stand on the historical truth and for your friendship. Thank you, Prime Minister."
Yesterday, on the eve of his departure, PM Netanyahu made the following remarks:
I look forward to my visit to London. We’re going to mark a very important centenary – 100 years for the declaration of the Balfour Declaration, which recognized the right of the Jewish people for their national home in this land. I very much appreciate this gesture by the Prime Minister of Britain and the Government of Great Britain.
The Palestinians say that the Balfour Declaration was a tragedy. It wasn’t a tragedy. What has been tragic is their refusal to accept it 100 years later. I hope they change their mind, because if they do, they can move forward finally to making peace between our two peoples.
In my meeting with Prime Minister May, I intend to raise concrete suggestions on how to deal with the failed aspects of the Iran nuclear agreement. I look forward to those discussions. Thank you."
PM Netanyahu opens trading on the London Stock Exchange(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened trading on the London Stock Exchange on Friday. He made the following remarks:
"I just opened the London Stock Exchange and – immediately afterwards – spoke with dozens of business people who love Israel and invest in Israel. I told them: Invest more and bring your friends too.
There is great admiration for Israel here, and considerable success.
I am hereby concluding this week in London. I met with Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Minister Boris Johnson; we had important talks about security.
We are continuing to maintain security, all the time.
We are guarding our borders, our southern border and our northern border. We are also maintaining our admiration for our Druze brothers."
He then met with British corporate leaders and business people to whom he said, "The future belongs to those who innovate. Israel is the innovation nation. Invest in Israel."
PM Netanyahu meets with UK Jewish community leaders
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, met this morning (Sunday) with UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis. Chief Rabbi Mirvis pointed out his stand alongside Israel as well the support in the country. He added that he always emphasizes that attacking Zionism is, in effect, attacking Jews, and noted that he fights this phenomenon.
Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked Chief Rabbi Mirvis for his support.
Prime Minister Netanyahu, his wife and Minister Miri Regev then met with British Jewish community leaders.
Prime Minister Netanyahu:
"I’m very happy to be with you, with my wife Sara and our delegation, our ambassador, Mark Regev, who’s doing a great job. Miri Regev is our Sports and Culture Minister, and has been putting up some of the events to mark Balfour on the other side of the pond, of our pond, the Mediterranean pond, and also commemorating the liberation of the Land of Israel by the British Army, with Australian Light Horse, with New Zealand fighters 100 years ago.
People forget that. I mean, these are big events of history. In a matter of two or three days 100 years ago, the liberation of Be'er Sheva and the Balfour Declaration, and they have a lot to do with one another.
As I said at this extraordinary dinner, in which I thought Theresa May gave a tremendous speech, I think that our histories are intertwined, the history of Britain and Israel, and the Jewish community, from Chaim Weizmann and others, has been intertwined in the history of Zionism.
I thank you for that continuous bridge between Britain and Israel, between Zionism and Britain."
UK Board of Jewish Deputies President Jonathan Arkush:
"On behalf of the British Jewish community, it is an honor to welcome you to London. Our community is a strong community, only one-half of one percent of the British population, but we carry a degree of confidence in ourselves and in Israel. And every single one of us round this table is working totally for the good of the Jewish community and for the State of Israel. And all of us here could say much more about the work we do in this country, and as you saw from the event on Thursday night, we can sometimes move quite a lot of the establishment in a way that even Chaim Weizmann also was able to do. Welcome; we’re delighted that you’re here amongst us."