Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a trilateral meeting with his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades in Jerusalem to strengthen relations and sign agreements to cooperate in various fields. “This is a meeting of genuine friendship. There are shared values between us, we are three democracies in the eastern Mediterranean. We have come to the conclusion quite a few years ago, that we have so much to gain by cooperating with each other and we are doing that, point of fact, including with the new agreements we signed today but throughout the years,” Netanyahu said.
One of the primary agreements reached between the three country was the formation of a joint force to deal with wildfires and earthquakes, after Israel dealt with wildfires some two weeks ago that burnt large swathes of forest and residential neighborhoods in the center and north of the country; as well as deadly forest fires that plagued Cyprus late June. “We are sending a clear and loud message that Cyprus, Israel and Greece stand together in facing natural disasters and other challenges concerning emergency situations.” Cypriot President Anastasiades said.
The agreements also include cooperation in science, education, technology and energy, as well as joint ventures in off-shore gas fields that Prime Minister Netanyahu stressed was a joint interest of Jerusalem, Athens and Nicosia to develop and export to European markets. “We are sending a clear and loud message that Cyprus, Israel and Greece stand together in facing natural disasters and other challenges concerning emergency situations,” Netanyahu said.
Greek Prime Minister Tsipras also took the opportunity to declare the urgent need to restart a political process to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which will lead to an internationally aspired solution of peaceful co-existence of two states for two nations. “Of course let us not forget the Middle East process, the urgent need for the re-start of immediate and reliable talks on the Middle East, which will lead to a solution of peaceful co-existence of the two states, which refers to the right of the Israeli people, the Israeli state, to live with security, and the right of the Palestinians for a viable state,” Greek Prime Minister Tsipras.