BICOM

Foreign Secretary William Hague met his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman yesterday in London. Both emphasized the strength of UK-Israel relations and discussed a range of regional issues.

In a joint statement following their meeting, Hague and Lieberman noted that “bilateral ties between Israel and the UK are stronger than ever, including in education, science and technology.” They discussed “the importance of enhancing academic and scientific cooperation between leading institutions in both countries, and building on our close economic ties,” with two-way trade and services worth more than £5billion.

The two ministers also “paid tribute to US efforts on the Middle East Peace Process led by US Secretary of State John Kerry, and agreed that the current negotiations provide a unique opportunity to end the conflict once and for all.” On Sunday Lieberman hailed the “magnitude” of Kerry’s efforts and described Kerry’s framework plan for final status talks as far preferable to “other proposals from the international community.” In their talks yesterday Hague and Lieberman also discussed what they described as “the unprecedented package of security, political and economic support that the European Union will provide to the parties in the event of a final status agreement.” Such an accord would see Israel and a future Palestinian state granted a Special Privileged Partnership with the European Union, the closest possible ties with a non-member state.

Hague and Lieberman also discussed wider regional changes and “the security challenges this presented to Israel.” In particular, they emphasised “our common goal of preventing a nuclear-armed Iran, and the importance of continuing our coordination on this matter.” The two ministers agreed “that the sanctions regime should remain robust until Iran agrees to a comprehensive and final settlement addressing all international concerns about its nuclear programme.”

Yesterday’s meeting took place amid recent speculation that Prime Minister David Cameron will visit Israel within the coming two months.