BICOM

Israel’s prime minister yesterday telephoned his British counterpart to discuss how the two countries can work together in a variety of fields.

It was the first conversation between Prime Ministers Benjamin Netanyahu and Theresa May since May took office last month. Netanyahu wished May good luck as she begins her premiership. They also discussed regional issues and the possibility of increasing cooperation in a number of fields, including combating global terrorism.

Netanyahu sent May a letter of congratulations immediately after she entered Downing Street. She also received warm wishes at the time from other prominent Israeli leaders including opposition leader and Zionist Union head Isaac Herzog and his colleague, former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

May has been described by several political leaders as a supporter of Israel, including Israel’s former-Ambassador to the UK Daniel Taub and former-Communities Minister Eric Pickles MP. May visited Israel in summer 2014, during a difficult period in which the kidnapping of three Israeli teenage boys led to extremely high tensions. She has also been a regular speaker at Jewish communal events, delivering a keynote address at the Bnei Akiva youth organisation to mark Israel’s Independence Day last year. Last year, she made an impassioned speech expressing solidarity at a Board of Deputies event in the wake of the Paris terror attack at a kosher supermarket.

May told the Conservative Friends of Israel two years ago “it is worth re-stating the threats faced by Israel because they are considerable,” going on to list Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS and Iran. She said that “no democratic government could, in the face of such danger, do anything but maintain a strong defence and security capability and be prepared to deploy it if necessary”. At the same time, she said that “there will be no lasting peace or justice in the region until the Palestinian people are able to enjoy full civil rights themselves”.