Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Downing Street this morning.
In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Cameron said:
“Well, it’s a great pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu to Number 10 Downing Street. I well remember my visit to Israel and the very warm reception that you gave me and the opportunity to address the Knesset was a great honour to do that.
There is a lot to talk about today. There’s the relationship between Britain and Israel. There’s the growing economic and commercial ties between our countries. There’s also some enormously important global threats to discuss, particularly the threat of Islamist extremism, most notably from ISIL in Syria and Iraq.
So we’ll be discussing all those things. Britain remains staunch in our defence of Israel’s right to exist and right to defend itself. We also remain thoroughly committed to the two-state solution and the peace process, which we’ll also discuss today. It’s great to welcome you here on this visit”.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu responded:
“Thank you David. Prime Minister Cameron, David, it’s a pleasure to see you again. I look forward to discussing with you everything you mentioned – three specific areas; First security. The Middle East is disintegrating under the twin forces of militant Islam: The militant Sunnis led by ISIS and the militant Shiites led by Iran. And I believe that we can cooperate in practical ways to roll back the tide of militant Islam both in the Middle East and in Africa altogether.
Secondly, and no less important, peace. I want to say here in 10 Downing Street, and reaffirm again that I am ready to resume direct negotiations with the Palestinians with no conditions whatsoever to enter negotiations, and I’m willing to do so immediately.
The third point is technology – the future belongs to those who innovate. Britain and Israel are two great centres of technology. Israel is a global hub of innovation, especially in cyber security. And I think that if we pool our resources together we can offer a better future and great prosperity”.
