fbpx

News

Netanyahu completes London visit

[ssba]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent the weekend in London, giving an extensive interview to the BBC before returning to Israel last night.

On Friday, Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the London Stock Exchange and told reporters: “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.”

The Prime Minister then had a discussion about Israel and the threat of Iran at the Royal Institute for International Affairs at Chatham House. Assessing the latest developments in the Middle East, Netanyahu drew a distinction between “medieval Islamists” that run “dictatorial thug-ocracies” and modernists who are pragmatic enough to lead “new alliances between Israel and Arab Gulf states”.

He quoted former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, describing Iran “as a cause, not a county” and said the Islamic Republic cause is attempting to “dominate the world”.

On Sunday morning Netanyahu gave an extensive interview to the Andrew Marr Show on the BBC. He rejected a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but stopped short of endorsing Palestinian statehood. He said that the regional challenges since the 2011 Arab Spring meant “it is time we reassess the model of sovereignty and whether that is applicable everywhere in the world”.

Today’s Middle East “is peppered with failed states and pre-failed states and collapsing states,” the Prime Minister continued, arguing that any territory evacuated by Israel would be conquered immediately by the forces of militant Islam.

Netanyahu said Iran has hopes of destroying Israel from within a short range, perhaps via one of its proxy terrorist groups along Israel’s borders north or south.

Netanyahu suggested three improvements to the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran: apply sanctions to halt Iran’s ballistic programme; upgrade IAEA inspections to include Iranian military sites; and tighten Iran’s responsibilities on nuclear enrichment when the deal expires.

Before returning to Israel last night, Netanyahu met Jewish community leaders. Reflecting on the Balfour Declaration centenary he said: “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.”