BICOM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned yesterday that “Iran is building an aggressive empire” in the Middle East and constructing missile factories in Syria and Lebanon.
Speaking to delegates at the AIPAC conference in Washington yesterday, he said Iran was building an empire in “Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, more to come. Now Iran is seeking to build permanent military bases in Syria, seeking to create a land bridge from Tehran to Tartus on the Mediterranean. And in addition to moving its army, its air force, its navy to Syria to be able to attack Israel from closer hand it’s also seeking to develop, to build precision-guided missile factories in Syria and Lebanon against Israel”.

He also conveyed a message to the Iranian people when he said: “As we counter Iran’s aggression… we should always remember the brave people of Iran: their suffering, their hopes, their courage”.

Netanyahu praised US President Donald Trump and his team for their work on the peace process and thanked the administration for deciding to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. Discussing attempts to create peace, Netanyahu said: “Most of the states in our region know that Israel is not their enemy, but their indispensable ally in confronting our common challenges and seizing our common opportunities. This is true for Egypt and Jordan, Israel’s longtime peace partners, but also true of many other Arab countries in the Middle East. Israel is committed to achieving peace with all our neighbours, including the Palestinians.”

The Prime Minister talked at length about Israeli hi-tech, noting that major US tech firm such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook “all have research centres in Israel”. He also set out Israel’s leading role in vital technology such as autonomous vehicles, precision agriculture, cyber security and water recycling.