PM Netanyahu reviews exhibition of posters for International Holocaust Remembrance Day (Photo: GPO)

At the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, January 22nd, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the following remarks:

“This week we will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The UN decided to mark this day at the initiative of the Israeli government and then Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, and it was an important decision.  It created an international framework for discussion of the Holocaust, certainly in several countries – for example in Europe – for which it is important to do so.

I was in the Netherlands last week and I was impressed that while this issue is being dealt with, it must be dealt with on a deeper level.  Israel has decided to mark during the same week, the struggle against anti-Semitism, a struggle which is being led by [Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs] Minister Yuli Edelstein, in new, creative and important ways.

Yad Vashem Council Chairman Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and Yad Vashem Directorate Chairman Avner Shalev are here today.  Their work is making waves around the world, as is the assistance in the overall struggle given by the Jewish Agency led by our friend Natan Sharansky.

We are also marking 70 years since the Wansee Conference. Seventy years ago at a luxurious villa on the shores of a pastoral lake in one of the suburbs of Berlin, ten senior officials of the German Third Reich met and, over breakfast, decided to annihilate the Jewish people. They also decided on the ways to accomplish this.

Our friend Yossi Peled – a Holocaust survivor, former GOC Northern Command in the IDF and now a minister in the Israeli government – attended the ceremony this week.

Seventy years ago, the Jewish people were helpless.  They had no ability – neither political, nor military nor diplomatic – to organize their own defense, and one-third of our people were annihilated.  The difference between 1942 and 2012 is not the absence of enemies; that same desire to destroy the Jewish people and the State that arose – this desire exists and has not changed.  The difference is our ability to defend ourselves and to do so with determination.

The Jewish people and the Government of Israel have the obligation and the right to prevent another annihilation of the Jewish people or attack on its state.”

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Israel calls on the European members of the UN Security Council to support the resumption of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians under the Quartet plan, adopted by Israel despite its rejection by the PA. The European UNSC members must adhere to the wording of the Quartet plan and refrain from giving it interpretations that contradict both the letter and the spirit of the original text. This misreading only adds obstacles on the path towards renewing peace negotiations. Interfering with Israel’s domestic affairs, including on issues which are to be solved within the framework of direct talks, does not enhance the status they wish to be granted.

Moreover, Israel suggests that the European UNSC members focus on the international agenda rather than turn upside down the fitting priorities of the international community. In Security Council discussions they should have concentrated on peacemaking in bloodshedding hotspots such as Syria, on promoting democracy and moderation in Arab countries aspiring to freedom, and on defusing the global danger embodied in the Iranian nuclear race. If, instead of contributing to stability in the Middle East through these steps, they invest their efforts in inappropriate bickering with the one country where the independent law and justice system can handle lawbreakers of all kinds, they are bound to lose their credibility and make themselves irrelevant.

The European UNSC members have chosen to do what is easy and unnecessary, rather than muster their courage and do that which is  difficult and necessary.

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Earlier today, Tuesday, November 15th Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon opened WATEC Israel 2011, the international conference on water technologies, renewable energy and environmental control. More than 30 heads of state and ministers as well as 150 business delegations have come to Israel to attend the conference.

Deputy FM Ayalon said in his opening speech, “Israel is among the leading states in the world in water technologies and is willing to share its knowledge and experience with other countries so that together we can provide for the increasing needs of the world’s ever-growing population.”

During his speech, Ayalon addressed the leaders of the Arab states, reminding them that Israel’s hand, outstretched in peace, is not empty and that pooling our resources will benefit all of the people living in the Middle East. “Israel will benefit from a peace agreement, but you will also gain a genuine partner for development and the assured welfare of future generations in the region,” Ayalon said. “Unfortunately, many times in the history of the region, water was a reason for conflict and bloodshed. Today, I want to change this equation, together with you to turn water into a bridge to peace.”

“We, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are constantly looking at ways to conduct relations beyond traditional diplomacy. To this end, we conduct a form of Environmental Diplomacy and try to apply it also within our own region, here in the Middle East, and beyond.”

After the speech, Deputy FM Ayalon met with Uganda’s Minister for Water, the Czech Minister of the Environment and Georgia’s Commissioner for Economic Development.

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The Council was established in June 2007, at an event convened in the Chief Rabbinate of Israel in Jerusalem. It was attended by the chief rabbis, the vice-president of the Sharia Appeal Court, the head of the Druze community, the head of the Greek Catholic  Church, the Greek Patriarch, the representative of the Armenian Patriarch, the head of the Maronite Church, the head of the Anglican Church, the representative of the Latin Patriarchate, the head of the Ethiopian Church, the head of the Armenian Catholic Church,  the  representative of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, the representative of the Coptic Church, the secretary general of the Baha’i community, the imam of the Circassian community, the head of the Ahmadi community, the head of the Samaritan community, and  the representative of the Beduin community.

Since its establishment, the Council endeavors to foster understanding and bring together people of different faiths and communities in Israel. It has helped to solve conflicts and differences throughout the country.

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The significance of the report is that the international community must bring about the cessation of Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons which endanger the peace of the world and of the Middle East.”

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(Communicated by the Prime Minister’s Media Adviser)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan met Monday evening, November 7th, with OECD Deputy Secretary-General Rintaro Tamaki and received from him the OECD’s first review of Israel’s environmental accomplishments.

OECD Dep. Secy.-Gen. Tamaki praised Israel’s impressive achievements in environmental protection in the past two years: “The Government of Israel is doing exceptional work and is investing considerable resources in socio-economic development while reducing harm to the environment and efficiently using natural resources.  Thus, for example, the scope of use of desalinated water in Israel is among the highest in the world, 42% of water consumption, and Israel’s desalination facilities are among the most energy efficient.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Israel’s entry into the OECD constitutes an important opportunity regarding investment in the field of environmental protection and called on the OECD to invest Israel’s project on oil alternatives.  “A genuine revolution is taking place here.  My Government has been in office for 2.5 years and we already see the change.  Just last month, the Government decided on ‘green growth’ – socio-economic growth and development without harming the environment.  This plan constitutes additional proof that preserving and advancing the environment need not come at the expense of economic development; the opposite is true.  Joining an advanced economy with the environment leads to new and clean industries and new growth engines,” the Prime Minister said.

Among the topics discussed at this evening’s meeting were the main achievements in environmental protection in the past two years, including: Hooking up the natural gas pipeline to Haifa, which significantly reduced air pollution in the area; reducing Israel’s dependence on oil and encouraging the use of alternative and renewable energy; activities to prevent ground pollution and the rehabilitation of polluted rivers.  Prime Minister Netanyahu said that the development of a national rail network is encouraging the use of public transportation and noted the establishment of three main parks – the Kishon in the north, Eshkol in the south and Ariel Sharon Park in the center.

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Israel rejects the decision of the General Assembly of UNESCO of October 31st accepting Palestine as a member state of the organization. This is a unilateral Palestinian maneuver which will bring no change on the ground but further removes the possibility for a peace agreement.

This decision will not turn the Palestinian Authority into an actual state yet places unnecessary burdens on the route to renewing negotiations. Israel believes that the correct and only way to make progress in the diplomatic process with the Palestinians is through direct negotiations without preconditions. Consequently Israel welcomed the Quartet’s declaration of the 23rd September and is ready to work on this basis. The Palestinian move at UNESCO, as with similar such steps with other UN bodies, is tantamount to a rejection of the international community’s efforts to advance the peace process.

Israel thanks those countries which displayed a sense of responsibility and opposed this decision in the UNESCO General Assembly. It is disappointing that the European Union, which is working to renew the direct negotiations and opposes the Palestinian move, could not reach a unified position to prevent this decision.

Following the decision to accept Palestine as a regular member of UNESCO, the State of Israel will consider its further steps and ongoing cooperation with the organization.

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The assistance will focus on temporary buildings necessary for the rehabilitation of people rescued and evacuated at disaster sites in Turkey, as well as essential field hospital structures. Israeli Air Force aircraft are currently preparing to transfer these buildings.

The Turkish request was transferred via the Israeli Consul stationed in Ankara.

Two days ago Defense Minister Barak already spoke to Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad, Director of Policy and Political-Military Affairs of the Israeli Defense Ministry, offering Turkish authorities any assistance needed in dealing with the earthquake that took place in eastern Turkey. In response, the Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz instructed the IDF to prepare for the possibility of a search and rescue aid delegation sent to Turkey. The Home Font Command prepared the relevant forces.

Minister for Home Front Defense, Matan Vilani, offered Turkey assistance. The Minister spoke with the Home Front Command Chief, Maj. Gen, Eyal Eizenberg regarding IDF preparations for the an aid delegation sent to the area.

Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu spoke with his Turkish counterpart expressing his condolences for the deaths and damage caused by the earthquake. Israeli President, Shimon Peres, spoke with Abdullah Gul, his Turkish counterpart, expressing his condolences and offering assistance from Israel.

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Israel will convene a preparatory meeting for the 2012 Earth Summit (Rio + 20), the UN Conference for Sustainable Development, to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The preparatory meeting is scheduled to take place on 25-27 October 2011 in the Maccabia Village in Ramat Gan.

At the 1992 Earth Summit, which was also held in Rio de Janeiro, world leaders discussed the possible impact of future development on the environment and adopted international environmental conventions, such as the Climate Change Convention. Ten years later, another world summit was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the purpose of boosting global commitment to sustainable development.

The Israeli meeting will be attended by senior representatives of countries from all over the world as well as from the UN Secretariat and UN agencies, headed by UN Under-Secretary-General and head of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Mr. Sha Zukang. The meeting will deal with green agriculture as part of a green economy and as a tool for economic development and eradication of poverty.

The summary of this international meeting will be included in the draft of the outcome document of the Rio summit.

The meeting in Israel is being organized by MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation at the Foreign Ministry, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in cooperation with UNDESA.se of boosting global commitment to sustainable development.

The Israeli meeting will be attended by senior representatives of countries from all over the world as well as from the UN Secretariat and UN agencies, headed by UN Under-Secretary-General and head of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Mr. Sha Zukang. The meeting will deal with green agriculture as part of a green economy and as a tool for economic development and eradication of poverty.

The summary of this international meeting will be included in the draft of the outcome document of the Rio summit.

The meeting in Israel is being organized by MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation at the Foreign Ministry, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in cooperation with UNDESA.

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“Israel believes that the correct and only way to advance the peace process with the Palestinians is through direct, unconditional  negotiations. In this context Israel welcomed and accepted the Quartet’s declaration of September 23^rd 2011.

The Palestinians’ actions at UNESCO negate both the bilateral negotiations route and the Quartet’s proposal for continuing the diplomatic process. Their actions are a negative response to Israel’s and the international community’s efforts to promote the peace process.

UNESCO’s responsibilities address culture, science and education. UNESCO has remained silent in the face of significant change across the Middle East yet has found time during its current meeting to adopt six decisions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The decision to grant the Palestinians membership of UNESCO will not advance their desire for an independent state whatsoever.

Israel thanks the United States, Germany, Latvia and Romania who opposed the decision.”

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