Statements following a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu

Jerusalem, Israel, 22 July 2010

Office of the Prime Minister —

Statements by the Greek Prime Minister George Α. Papandreou and the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu:    Thank you. Welcome to Jerusalem, Prime Minister Papandreou. We are still trying to find out if this is the first official visit of a Greek prime minister to Israel. It certainly is the first official visit in many, many decades, and I am very pleased to welcome you here today.

Historically Athens and Jerusalem were the two founts of our common civilization. So much of the progress, freedom, culture and values of the world we live in today were shaped by ideas that were born in Athens and in Jerusalem.

And of course our relationship proceeded in modern times, with the Jews of Greece, the Jews of Saloniki, who are an important part of our modern rebirth. Today modern Greece and modern Israel are pillars of stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, and I believe great partners in the quest for peace, the peace between us and our Palestinian neighbors and the peace in the entire region.

So I welcome the opportunity of your visit to explore how to do this, how to deepen the relationship and the friendship between our two countries, and how to strengthen all our ties, beginning with the economic ties.

The first time we met was is Moscow. I had the opportunity to discuss with you the enormous challenges that you were facing at the time. Today I’ll have the opportunity to hear about some of the additional steps you have taken in order to meet those challenges. And believe me, Prime Minister, I know how difficult economic reform can be.

And so we appreciate everything that you are doing, and I want to do everything I can to improve Israel’s and Greece’s economic ties, for the benefit of both our countries, and I think we have much to do.

We know that to maintain the standard of living of the advanced countries we need technology, we need modernity. This is something that we can share in abundance, to the benefit of our peoples.

One of the things that we had a chance to talk about briefly is of course the challenge posed by Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons. I have just come back from Washington. I appreciated the fact that President Obama signed into law the bill, a tough US sanctions bill, and I hope that Greece and other European countries follow America’s lead on this.

Equally, I know that you are going today to see President Abbas, and we discussed our commitment and our willingness to enter direct peace negotiations, not merely to negotiate but to seek a conclusion of an historic peace agreement. You voiced your willingness to help us in that effort, and I welcome that and I thank you for that.

I believe that if both sides are willing to compromise, if both sides are willing to end the conflict, then an historic agreement is possible. There are many skeptics; I am not one of them. And I know you are not one of them.

So I will say again that we are grateful for all your efforts, both to strengthen our economic and bilateral ties, but also to strengthen and expand the circle of peace, something that we yearn for and our people yearn for, and I know that is a goal that you share.

So welcome to Jerusalem, Prime Minister Papandreou.

George A. Papandreou:   Thank you very much, Prime Minister Netanyahu. It is a pleasure for me to pay my first visit as Prime Minister of Greece. I have been here before under different capacities. So I’d like to thank you for your warm hospitality and the motivating talks we have had, also for your appreciation and support concerning the economic situation we are going through.

We have taken painful measures. The Greek people have decided to support the change in our country, the necessary changes, and we are now on a more steady path. And I do believe that this crisis will become an opportunity to make our country stronger.

But certainly our cooperation is valued, and certainly economic cooperation in many areas is something which we look forward to, and is highly appreciated.

As you said, we have a long history of cultural heritage and ties between our two peoples, our two cultures, close relations over the ages. And of course in our modern history friendly relations between our two peoples, longstanding relations.

We also suffered the Nazi occupation and unluckily lost a very valuable part of our society, a valued part of our culture, which was Greek Jews. The community is still there, of course, and we cherish this community. But there were so many lost, and it was truly moving when I visited the Holocaust Museum today.

And of course we say never again. But this is a nightmare which also has fitted our fates together and unites our two nations.

I am pleased that our bilateral relations are moving forward, but we have great capacity for further strengthening our cooperation in many fields, from energy to investment to tourism to agriculture.

Let me also say that the Israeli initiative concerning the access to the Gaza Strip is a positive step forward. However, we do believe that further steps are needed, and they are needed in order to change the situation in the area, change the conditions, the living conditions on the ground, obviously with respect to the fundamental need for safety for Israel.

With regard to the peace process, I’d like to express our support to the ongoing progress and process. We are confident that direct negotiations will start soon, obviously taking into account both sides, and with the aim of establishing a just, durable peace, on the basis of a two-state solution.

To this effect, of course, all parties need to avoid actions that may jeopardize this peace process and build confidence between the different sides.

As you said, Mr. Prime Minister, I will be meeting with Abu Mazen, with Mahmoud Abbas, this afternoon. I will take your message to him. The will for a solution, an historic agreement, and of course in any way we can be of help we will do so.

I know that also Cathy Ashton from the European Union was here in recent days, and reiterated the European support for this process also.

I have been asked, Mr. Prime Minister, by many here in Jerusalem why I am in Israel today. It’s obvious that this meeting heralds a deepening of our bilateral relations.

But I also want to be very clear: We are neighbors. We live in the same region and we want peace in this region. There is great potential, once peace is achieved, which we are not exploiting or using right now because of the conflicts in our region.

It’s not the only one. I have made it a goal to take initiatives, and I have taken initiatives, with our direct neighbor, with Turkey, in moving the peace process further, in overcoming historic and longstanding problems, on the basis of international law, good neighborly relations, peaceful dialogue.

And even though we have at times setbacks and problems, I am committed to move forward because I believe that we need to create, in this wider region, a peaceful neighborhood. And that will be, in the end, a win-win solution for all, a benefit for all of us.

So I wish you the best on this road to peace, and as I said, we are ready in any capacity to be of help.

Let me finish simply by saying that today I planted an olive tree in the Grove of Nations. The olive tree is of course an ancient symbol, olive tree and olive branch. As you know, the ancient athletes were crowned with an olive branch, and for good reason. Because you mentioned the Oracle before we came here at Delphi. Two cities that were fighting with each other, one of them decided to go to the Oracle in Delphi and ask, “What can we do to bring peace?” And they said, “Why don’t you organize games?” And they were called the Olympic Games.

For 1000 years we an Olympic truce. Every time Games took place, every four years…

Benjamin Netanyahu:    We should have them every day.

George A. Papandreou:   We should have them every day. And that’s why I am very glad that you also are willing to sign, which we began with Greece in the Olympic Games, the Olympic Truce signature, and I hope I can do so when you are able to visit Greece.

Benjamin Netanyahu:    Well, thank you very much. I actually intend to take you up as soon as I can. I don’t think I told you this, but my first visit abroad was, as a child, we left on a ship from Haifa – this was in the ‘50s; there was no easy plane travel then – and I went to sleep and I woke up and I saw, I think it was Piraeus. And I remember as a child a visit to the Parthenon. And it made an unbelievable impression on me.

So if you can invite me a few years later to revisit ancient and modern culture, and restrengthen our partnership in the quest for modernity and peace, this will make me a very, very happy man, and coincidentally a very interested tourist.

So thank you again, and welcome to Jerusalem.

George A. Papandreou:   You are welcome. Thank you very much. Thank you again.

Benjamin Netanyahu:    Thank you very much.