Statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Start of his Meeting
in Jerusalem with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Sunday, 24 July 2016), at the
Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, made the following statement at the
start of his meeting with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades:
"Cyprus and Israel are two small democracies in the eastern Mediterranean×¥
We also share common challenges, and also common opportunities:in security
cooperation, in gas, in emergency cooperation, commerce, tourism, many, many
fields.
I will never forget that in 2010, when we faced a ferocious forest fire in
the Carmel Forest, the first country I called was Cyprus. If offered to send
a plane.It did send it, and I was privileged to reciprocate last month when
you faced a ferocious forest fire, and we sent our planes to extinguish your
flames. Back in April, our two nations, along with Greece, conducted a joint
fire-fighting exercise to enhance our regional cooperation in emergency
situations.
And that's exactly the kind of thing that friends do. They come to each
other's help in times of need, but also cooperate in good times or cooperate
to make times better. And that's why I'm particularly proud to have this
opportunity to continue the dialogue we began on a tripartite basis in the
Nicosia summit. We're continuing those discussions, both bilaterally but
also multilaterally, and we continue to send our people.
But of course we know, as leaders, that there's no substitute for the
meeting of the people at the top, so in this spirit, I welcome you once
again."
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