PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades meet in Jerusalem • "Leaders underscored their shared interests in regional stability and expressed their agreement to continue countering extremism and terrorism," joint statement says.
News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades met Sunday in Jerusalem. The two leaders discussed various regional issues, and agreed to increase Jerusalem and Nicosia's cooperation on shared regional concerns, such as the war on terror and energy interests.
A statement by the Prime Minister's Office said Netanyahu and Anastasiades "held wide-ranging discussions that reflected the important and close relations both countries enjoy. In the course of the meeting, both leaders underscored their shared interests in regional stability and expressed their agreement to continue countering of extremism and terrorism. They also discussed emergency response cooperation ... and the unitization of the Aphrodite and Ishai offshore gas fields."
The Israeli and Cypriot energy ministers are expected to finalize the issue of offshore gas infrastructure by September, the statement said, adding that "in the context of the exploration and development of energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean, both leaders concluded that resolving the outstanding issues between Cyprus and Turkey would greatly facilitate the pace of the development of future projects, which will proceed according to international law, as well as greatly enhance stability in the region. Therefore, Israel has a strong interest in the resolution of this issue."
In a short press conference held after the meeting, Netanyahu said, "Cyprus and Israel are two small democracies in the eastern Mediterranean. We also share common challenges, and also common opportunities: in security cooperation, in gas, in emergency cooperation, commerce, tourism -- many, many fields.
"I will never forget that in 2010, when we faced a ferocious forest fire in the Carmel Forest, the first country I called was Cyprus. It offered to send a plane. It did send it, and I was privileged to reciprocate last month when you faced a ferocious forest fire, and we sent our planes to extinguish your flames. Back in April, our two nations, along with Greece, conducted a joint fire-fighting exercise to enhance our regional cooperation in emergency situations. That's exactly the kind of thing that friends do. They come to each other's help in times of need, but also cooperate in good times or cooperate to make times better.
"That's why I'm particularly proud to have this opportunity to continue the dialogue we began on a tripartite basis in the Nicosia summit. We're continuing those discussions, both bilaterally but also multilaterally, and we continue to send our people. But of course we know, as leaders, that there's no substitute for the meeting of the people at the top, so in this spirit, I welcome you once again," the prime minister said.
"It is a pleasure to be back in Jerusalem and to have an opportunity to discuss with you many of the important developments that have taken place in the past few months," Anastasiades said.
"I want to express to you and to the people and Government of the State of Israel personally my gratitude and the gratitude of all Cypriots for the indispensable assistance which you offered recently during the terrible forest fires in Cyprus. ... In the sadness of natural disasters, I have to point out something that gave me hope for the future: The fact that the level of mutual cooperation between Cyprus and Israel has reached the point where reaction is so swift and smooth. We know that we can rely on each other, and this is the result of a lot of work that we have been doing together during the past few years in bringing our countries closer.
"We are reliable partners that see eye to eye on a wide agenda of issues, reaching from energy to security to a very sincere, open and frank political dialogue. We have been tightening our areas of cooperation, from tourism to education and business, sharpening our joint training, and through continuous coordination have been forming a common language. This common language enables us to stand by each other in these very challenging times, as we are faced with so many attacks against our common rights. This is true in our immediate region, but also in many parts of the world," he said.
Anastasiades noted he welcomed his frequent meetings and phone conversations with Netanyahu, saying he was "looking forward" to discussions in "how to enhance our bilateral relations in the fields of energy, security, economy and trade, to exchange views on the regional developments, to brief [Netanyahu] on the negotiations about the Cyprus problem, and of course to prepare for the next trilateral meeting later this year with our Greek colleague here in Jerusalem, in order to continue the work which we started in Nicosia last January."
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