- Title: ISRAEL-ASIA/ABE-NETANYAHU Japan's Abe voices support for Mideast peace process.
- Date: 19th January 2015
- Summary: JERUSALEM (JANUARY 19, 2014) (REUTERS) ISRAELI AND JAPANESE FLAGS FLYING OUTSIDE ISRAELI PRESIDENT'S RESIDENCE ISRAELI PRESIDENT REUVEN RIVLIN GREETING ABE, HANDSHAKE, TAKING SEATS MEETING IN PROGRESS ABE'S WIFE AKIE ABE ENTERING CLASSROOM AT JERUSALEM'S JEWISH-ARAB SCHOOL CHILDREN SITTING IN CLASSROOM VARIOUS OF AKIE ABE ATTENDING LESSON AKIE ABE ENTERING SCHOOL'S LIBRARY
- Embargoed: 3rd February 2015 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Jerusalem
- City:
- Country: Israel
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVACJNWFYDC7AFS136APXIZ3DDXY
- Story Text: Japanese Prime Minister Shimzo Abe met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem on Monday (January 19).
During a joint news conference at the prime minister's office, Netanyahu told Abe that both Israel and Japan were facing "formidable threats from nearby rogue states."
"Both Iran and North Korea are governed by ruthless and extreme dictatorships, states that seek to bully and intimidate their neighbours, and in our case, to actually eradicate us from the face of the earth. Iran and North Korea have aggressive military nuclear programs, and they are both developing nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them, ballistic missiles," the Israeli premier said.
Netanyahu, who spoke a day after a deadly Israeli attack in Syria which killed five members of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, reiterated Israel's position to "defend itself against all those who wish to propagate terror and other attacks against its citizens, against its territory".
Abe told Netanyahu Japan was committed to maintain bilateral ties with Israel and to help revive collapsed peace talks with the Palestinians ahead of a scheduled meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Tuesday (January 20).
"Based on these bonds from times past from times past and based on your friendship, Japan will continue our endeavor to reinforce our relationship as a friend of Israel," Abe said.
"Japan will continue up our active engagement for the purpose of regional stability in the Middle East peace process and other efforts with the understanding on the difficult environment of Israel. Tomorrow, I shall be visiting Palestine as well, and therefore, as a genuine friend, I might offer advices that may not be easy to swallow to both of the parties," he added.
Netanyahu said on Sunday (January 18) Israel was pushing to expand trade with Asia, Japan in particular, partly due to a wave of anti-Semitism and what he called "Islamisation" in Western Europe.
Europe is Israel's biggest trading partner, but deepening diplomatic disputes over policy toward the Palestinians and anti-Jewish incidents such as a Jan. 9 attack by an Islamist gunman on a Paris kosher deli have triggered Israeli worries.
Netanyahu, who is also finance minister and a free-market champion, cast his courting of China, India and Japan over the past two years as a partial response to European developments.
After the meeting Abe met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in his Jerusalem residence where the two leaders discussed Israel-Japan ties and regional issues.
Elsewhere, Abe's wife, Akie Abe paid a visit to Jerusalem's Arab-Jewish Hand in Hand school in Beit Safafa neighbourhood, where Palestinian and Israeli children study together in Hebrew and Arabic.
Akie met with school staff and students and attended a primary school lesson.
The school, a symbol of co-existence in Jerusalem, was torched last November by suspected Jewish extremists who have since then been arrested and awaiting trial.
More than 600 pupils attend Hand in Hand. From pre-school to high school, its student population is divided equally between Jews and Arabs. There are four other such schools in the Hand to Hand network in Israel. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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