​(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Thursday, 17 May 2018), at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, met with Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela. They held both a private meeting and an expanded meeting with their entourages. The following were signed:
 
* Bilateral free trade agreement – The agreement will lift restrictions on trade between Israel and Panama, in both directions, and enable free trade.
 
* MOU on establishing a center for agricultural excellence in Panama – Israel will establish in Panama a center that will combine Israeli technologies and training. This would be the first such center in Latin America and is due to significantly assist agriculture in Panama.
 
Prime Minister Netanyahu:
 
"Welcome, President Varela, to Israel. This is a wonderful opportunity to further our friendship. We had an interesting discussion before in New York. We said we’d be in this day.
 
I have been to Panama. I hope to come again. And I think this opportunity for you to see what we can do together here in Israel is very, very important for both our countries.
 
We’re going to sign several agreements here to advance that, but I have to say that we remember Panama’s friendship from pre-independence days, when you helped take our people from Cyprus a long way. They had to go there in order to come back here.
 
But we have built a vibrant partnership and we are now cooperating in energy, in water, in cyber, in agriculture and many, many other areas.
 
I think the potential is enormous, because the future belongs to those who innovate. Israel is the, I would say is the innovation nation. Panama has tremendous advantages, which involve world trade and your wise management of those opportunities. And together I think we can do much, much more.
 
We also have a vested interest in assuring security, which is the foundation of peace. This is a big issue, obviously, in this area, but I think it’s an issue in every area, including in your part of the world. We are ready to cooperate on this as well, and in any other area that is of common interest. We are your friends, and we welcome you as friends here in Jerusalem.
 
I would like to add two points after these moving words, about the good and the bad.
 
I’ll start with the bad: The bad is that preeminent terrorist state of our time is Iran. Iran was responsible for the horrible terrorist attacks in Argentina, and I think beyond that. In some of the things that you were referring to, I have no doubt that they had a hand.
 
So we have a common battle to fight terrorism, and to fight the sponsors and dispatchers of terrorists. And we are doing it in the Middle East, but I think as I said, it encompasses today the entire world, the entire world.
 
And we stand ready to cooperate. Israel’s security services and our remarkable intelligence services have prevented terrorist attacks in over 30 countries, major terrorist attacks—the downing of aircraft we have prevented recently, and since we spoke about this tragedy, is the downing of aircraft. But today we have prevented such catastrophes by sharing our intelligence with other countries, as we share with our friends in Panama.
 
The second thing is the good. I have a personal debt to Panama, because when I came here after I finished my service, my studies in the United States, I looked for a job in Jerusalem. And at the time, Jerusalem didn’t have what it has today. Jerusalem is rated today as the fifth fastest growing hi-tech city. It’s very big.
 
When I came here, this was many years ago, there was nothing here except what looked to me was one attractive firm. It was called Rim Industries. It was established by Aaron Eisen, a Jew from Panama who was persuaded to come here and begin this business, which he began. And he gave me a job. So I owe you my first job in Israel. I owe Panama my first job."
 
Panamanian President Varela:
 
"I would like to thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for receiving me and my delegation on this official visit to Israel in a very special moment for this country, where we are celebrating Israel’s 70th anniversary of independence. And also we are celebrating 70 years of diplomatic relations between our two countries.
 
I would like to thank the State of Israel for all the support that has given to Panama, that has been given to Panama throughout these 70 years, support and exchange of good practices in technology, agriculture and water management, also in training for students and closely cooperating in the field of security and different areas of collaboration that have been the pillars of our bilateral ties.
 
Our relationship is not only between our states or our governments, but also within our people, because of the historic, as you mentioned, role the Jewish people has played in the development of our country.
 
In this visit, I am accompanied by some members of the Jewish community in Panama that arrived in our country a long time ago and have worked very hard to contribute in building the Panama that we have today.
 
I am very impressed, Prime Minister, by what I have seen so far in Israel, but what impresses me the most is the commitment of its people to build and protect this beautiful country.
 
Yesterday, I went to the Mount Herzl and in that place, I felt the energy and all the hard work and sacrifices that have been made to build this country.
 
I pay tribute to all the men and women that have protected and worked hard for the State of Israel, starting from Theodor Herzl, who had a vision of the State of Israel long before it was established and also all the prime ministers, presidents and soldiers and leaders that are buried in that place, very special place.
 
Today, we are going to sign the free trade agreement, and I believe that thanks to this document, we now can reach our full potential and capacity of cooperation in the commercial field.
 
Just three days away from celebrating Shavuot, and thanks to Mashav, we are going to sign today also an agricultural agreement for establishing a center of excellence in agriculture, positive for our country, and will allow us, with the help of Israel, to have better quality and higher quantity of Panamanian products.
 
I had the opportunity to visit the Ben Shemen Youth Village yesterday—impressive—an agricultural school where I saw the expertise, skills and especially the commitment of the teachers to young people that are not only going to be professionals in agriculture, but also will enroll in Israeli Defense Forces to protect their country.
 
Having able to see, this is very special for me, the faces of joint Israeli Defense Forces and in their eyes, I can see their commitment to the prosperous future of this nation. They are fighting for a cause, not for their interest—the cause of protecting the State of Israel and to protect the Jewish people. And I admire them and I reaffirm that I support that cause.
 
I will also went to the Yad Vashem, this morning, museum, where we remembered the horrible act of hate of the Holocaust and all the lives that were lost, and I would like to express my commitment to the Jewish people and to the State of Israel that I will make sure that this horrible event never happens again. Light will always overcome darkness, and we have to be always on the side on the light.
 
Prime Minister, on November 20, I received a letter from you confirming that I lost my roommate and a serious member of the Panamanian Jewish community to a terrorist attack conducted by Hezbollah in Panama some years ago. Thank you for that information. We shall share it with the family, and I will keep following that case to make sure that justice is done.
 
Our acting in public life will always be on the right side to make sure that nothing like this happens again, in my country or anywhere else in the world. The fight against terrorism shouldn’t have boundaries, ideologies or fate. The fight against terrorism should unite all human beings to stop the evil that terrorists represent, and to fight for the right of all human beings to live in this world in peace.
 
I’m returning full of energy to my country, after what I have seen, felt and experienced in these two days in Israel. There are multiple opportunities of collaboration with your country, in agriculture, water, commerce, technology, security, innovation.
 
I would like to thank you again, Prime Minister, for this opportunity to be here. You can count that in Panama, you don’t have just an ally. You have a friend."