BICOM

The President of the European Council Donald Tusk met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday in Jerusalem. The two discussed opportunities for increased cooperation between Israel and the EU as well as regional and global security issues including: the Iranian nuclear threat, the migration crisis, and the threat of Islamic extremism.

Netanyahu welcomed Tusk as a “great friend of Israel” and stressed that Israel and Europe should work together to confront the challenges they face together. “I’ve discussed with Prime Minister Renzi of Italy the possibility of cooperating in sub-Saharan Africa, said Netanyahu.” He emphasised the need “to deal with the problem at the source, to strengthen African governments in agriculture, in the economy, in communications, in security, in energy, to prevent the collapse of those societies and the suffering that accompanies the people who are seeking to flee for their lives to Europe.”

Tusk, for his part, spoke of how the EU is “helping to safeguard” Israel’s national interests and stressed that “no country in Europe wants to boycott Israel”. He also highlighted the importance of restarting the Middle East peace process stating: “The European Union sees no alternative to a negotiated two-state solution” and reaffirming Europe’s commitment to playing a positive role in bringing about an agreement.

The meeting was part of a short visit by Tusk during which he also sat down with Israeli President Reuven (Ruvi) Rivlin and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whom he visited in Ramallah. For Netanyahu, this marks the second in a series of three back-to-back meetings with European leaders. Netanyahu recently met with Italian Prime Minister Renzi in Rome and today he departs for London for a meeting tomorrow with British Prime Minister David Cameron.