image Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades (C), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras shake hands outside the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus January 28, 2016. Greece, Israel and Cyprus will explore the possibility of building a natural gas pipeline to Europe, tapping huge gas reserves discovered in the eastern Mediterranean in recent years, leaders of the three countries said on Thursday. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou - RTX24EPX

Netanyahu arrives in Thessaloniki to bolster Greece-Cyprus-Israel alliance

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embarked yesterday on an official state visit to Thessaloniki, Greece, where he is expected to hold trilateral meeting with his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades. The trilateral meeting, which is the third of its kind, aims to continue strengthening the developing strategic cooperation between the three countries and to hold discussions on regional and strategic issues. Next to the meeting between three leaders, a scheduled trilateral meeting will take place between the heads of the Israeli, Greek and Cypriot governments, ministers and delegations, focusing on “economic growth through innovation and initiatives.”

Ahead of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s departure from Tel Aviv, the Israeli leader took the opportunity to praise both Switzerland and the Netherlands for two separate decisions. The Swiss parliament passed a law that revokes the ability of the Swiss government to finance Non-Governmental organizations which are identified as fostering hate, racism, anti-Semitism and incitement; While the Dutch government decided to stop financing a Palestinian NGO that was named after a female terrorist, who perpetrated a heinous act of terror that claimed the lives of dozens of Israelis, including children.

“Today, we can also announce two pieces of good news, one from Switzerland and the other from the Netherlands. I welcome the Swiss parliament’s decision to require the Swiss government not to finance NGOs that foster hate, racism, anti-Semitism and incitement. Second, I commend the Dutch government and my friend, Prime Minister Mark Rutte, for their decision to stop financing the Palestinian terrorist NGO that extols the memory of Dalal Mughrabi and to reconsider the financing that the Netherlands provides to other NGOs.”