(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Office)
 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this afternoon (Monday, 26 March 2018), in his Jerusalem office, met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
 
Prime Minister Netanyahu:
 
"We saw the horrible tragedy in Toulouse. And the people of Israel stand with you. We grieve with you over the loss of innocent French lives, and of a true hero, the officer Arnaud Beltrame, a hero of humanity, not only a hero of France. And we understand this very well. Monsieur le Ministre, I understand it very well. And I understand the loss of heroes and the special pain that that entails.
 
We have to stand together against this terrorism that afflicts our world. We have to fight terrorists wherever they are. And we have to fight terror-sponsoring regimes wherever they are.
 
I think this is the preeminent issue facing the international community in the coming months, in the coming years. And I look forward to having the opportunity to speak with you about this and our other common interests.
 
There is a friendship between France and Israel that is deep and enduring, and expresses itself in many, many ways.
 
I wish to send through you my best regards to President Macron. I hope to have fruitful conversations with you, as I’ve had with him.
 
And I would add that we admire the position of successive French governments, successive French presidents and President Macron against antisemitism. It’s bold, it’s clear and it’s right."
 
French Foreign Minister Le Drian:
 
"First, I would like to convey to you President Macron's greetings and esteem.
 
This will be a very special year for Israel and France and the relations between them because we have the joint and combined period with over 200 cultural events that will take place in both Israel and France. The season will begin at the end of May when the French Prime Minister will visit, and I will accompany him, and afterwards you will come to visit France. President Macron will then come here and afterwards President Rivlin will come to France. Thus, very many visits are anticipated and the bond is tightening. This is a sign that the friendship is very deep and strong and we have much in common. We fight the same fights against terrorism, anti-Semitism and – of course – for the security of the entire region.
 
I had a very moving and difficult moment when I had just concluded my visit to Yad Vashem. I heard about the outrageous murder of Mirelle Kanolin – a Holocaust survivor – in Paris. We cannot yet say if the motive for the murder was anti-Semitism but it is reasonable to assume, it will not be surprising and, therefore, this only strengthens the fact that this struggle has not ended, and that we will need to continue fighting against anti-Semitism.
 
I am very grateful for the warm remarks that you spoke in memory of Col. Beltrame who paid with his life in the war against terrorism. This is a common struggle. The basis for all this is security and your message certainly moves us very much. We have much to discuss together. It cannot be said that this region is especially calm.
 
Therefore, we will discuss all of these issues in the same atmosphere of mutual confidence and the friendship that prevails between us. We can discuss all of this and I am very pleased to be here."