Netanyahu: Both Clinton, Trump good for Israel
Prime minister tells cabinet: We will ‘paint the map of the world blue and white’
Just hours after the US presidential debate in which he was briefly mentioned, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that when it comes to Washington’s continued support of Israel, “it doesn’t matter” whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump is elected.
Netanyahu returned on Monday from New York, where he met on the previous day with both presidential candidates. At the start of this week’s cabinet meeting, he said he spoke at length with both Clinton and Trump about Israel and the region.
“Both of them talked about their support of Israel and the importance of the ties between the two countries,” he said. “It doesn’t matter which of them will be elected, the support for Israel will remain strong, the alliance will remain strong and will even get stronger in the coming years.”
Netanyahu’s name came up toward the end of Monday
night’s debate when Trump, criticizing the Iran nuclear deal, said, “I met with Bibi Netanyahu the other day. Believe me, he is not a happy camper.”
This week’s cabinet meeting was postponed from Sunday to Tuesday because of Netanyahu’s US trip.
Referring to his meeting last Wednesday with US President Barack Obama, Netanyahu said it was “excellent,” and during it he thanked the president for the $38 billion, 10-year military aid package signed earlier this month.
“It is no secret that President Obama and I have had our disagreements, first and foremost on the Iran issue,” Netanyahu said. “But it is also clear these disagreements did not cloud at all the stable and strong relationship between the two countries.”
Netanyahu stressed that the relationship between the two countries is not only based on shared interests, but also on shared values. The American people see their values represented by Israel, he said, and support Israel as much now as ever.
Netanyahu also addressed Israel’s improving relations with other regions in the world, Africa first and foremost. He repeated a comment from last week’s UN speech that it is “only a matter of time” before automatic voting against Israel by a number of countries in the international body comes to an end.
“Something is happening now, an unprecedented flourishing of our international relations with the countries of the world,” he said. “I spoke at the UN about its double standard, and the automatic votes against Israel, and I said that it is only a question of time until this theater of the absurd disappears. It is only a question of time, because the strengthening relations between us and the countries of the world will also find expression in the way in which these countries vote at the UN.”
The premier said that this automatic anti-Israel bloc rests to a large degree on African votes, and soon those votes will be brought “from one side to the other.”
Netanyahu characterized this as a “big change in Israel’s international position,” and – as he has done previously – called on his ministers to travel to Africa to further strengthen ties there.
“We will paint the map of the world blue and white, and in the end, even the UN will reflect this changing reality,” he said.
With Tuesday’s cabinet session being the last before Rosh Hashana begins Sunday evening, Netanyahu summed up the year saying the country is “stronger than ever.”
“The IDF is stronger than ever. The Israeli economy is growing. Israel’s diplomatic relations are flourishing,” he said. “We still have challenges to face; we have not achieved everything. But as we have achieved these things, we will also achieve the rest of our goals.”
The prime minister noted that some 25,000 immigrants arrived over the last year, saying that in his view that was the most important component of the country’s growth. This, he said, “represents the very purpose of our people and our state: the ingathering of the exiles and strengthening Jewish sovereignty and the Jewish state in its historic homeland.” •