PM Netanyahu's Statement at the Joint Press Conference in Paris with French
President Emmanuel Macron
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Sunday, 10 December 2017), issued
the following statement at the joint press conference in Paris with French
President Emmanuel Macron:

"Thank you, Mr. President, my friend Emmanuel.

You are indeed a friend. I welcome the condemnations that you just expressed
against the terror attacks against Israel and Israelis. They're always
inexcusable.

We are partners in the quest for peace, security, prosperity and culture. We
share so much, so many goals, so many values, and indeed, I think that in
the entire Middle East, there's not a country that stands as the vanguard of
the values that France cherishes, identify France—it's your basic
identity—and fights for these values, as the State of Israel.

We cooperate on many areas, including security. As you well know, that
cooperation has saved many lives. Israel has provided valuable intelligence
to many countries in Europe and many countries outside Europe, that has
prevented dozens of horrible terrorist attacks, some of which unfortunately
you have suffered. We fight together in this fight against barbarism, and
you're a principle leader in that fight. Across the Middle East as well,
your efforts in Lebanon are to be commended; your efforts to prevent the
spread of Iranian aggression are to be commended.

Does this mean that Emmanuel Macron and I agree on everything? Not yet,
we're working on it. It's a question of time.

But it's a pleasure to see you again, in Paris. Paris is the capital of
France. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. It's been the capital of Israel
for 3,000 years. It's been the capital of the Jewish state for 70 years. We
respect your history and your choices, and we know that as friends, you
respect ours. I think this is also essential for peace. I think what peace
requires is to be built on the foundation of truth, on the facts of the past
and on the present. This is the only way that you can build pluralistic and
successful future.

There is an effort, continually in UN forums, UNESCO and elsewhere to deny
the millennial connection of the Jewish people to Jerusalem. It's absurd.
You can read it in a very fine book, it's called the Bible. You can read in
after the Bible. You can hear it in the history of Jewish communities
throughout our diaspora, 'Next year in Jerusalem, next year in Jerusalem.'
Where else is the capital of Israel but in Jerusalem? Where is our Knesset,
our parliament? Where is our supreme court, the seat of our government, the
Prime Minister's Office, the President's office? It's not in Beer Sheva,
it's not in Ashdod. These are wonderful cities, but it's in Jerusalem. It's
always been our capital. And Jerusalem's never been the capital of any other
people. I think the sooner the Palestinians come to grips with this reality,
the sooner we'll move towards peace.

This is why I think President Trump's announcement was so historic and so
important for peace. On the quest for peace, there is a serious effort
underway now by the United States. And all I can say, as I said related to
President Macron, I think, if you'll pardon the expression, we should give
peace a chance, by bringing things to their historical truth, by opening up
the possibility of renewed negotiations, with renewed initiatives.

Now, peace requires not only that you recognize reality, but that we also
fight aggression. President Macron and I agree that we must stop the main
source of aggression in the Middle East which is Iran. Iran is all over the
place. It's in Iraq, it's in Syria, it's already in Lebanon, where the
president is validly trying to change the situation, taking a real
initiative which we appreciate and support. It's in Gaza, it's in Yemen. We
have to do what we can to stop Iran.

What Iran is trying to do regarding Israel, whom it openly calls for our
annihilation, is to do two new things. The first new thing, is to entrench
itself militarily with land forces, air forces and naval forces in Syria,
with the express purpose of fighting and destroying Israel. We will not
tolerate that. We back up our words with actions. The second thing that Iran
is trying to do is to put inside Lebanon game changing missiles, precision
guided missiles, to manufacture and to add to over 100,000 statistical
missiles and rockets, to add precision guided munitions, thousands of them,
that could be a great danger to Israel, its cities and its people. We will
not tolerate that either.

We look towards responsible leaders, and to important leaders such as
yourself, President Macron, to help us roll back this aggression, to help us
give peace a chance. Not only with our Palestinian neighbors but in the
region as a whole. In the region as a whole, there's been a c-change,
because many of the Arab countries now recognize that Israel is not their
enemy but their indispensable ally in fighting the twin sources of militant
Islam and its terror: the Sunnis led by Daesh, and militant Shiites led by
Iran. There is in this a blessing, because this could help pave the way to
an ultimate peace between us and our Palestinian neighbors and between us
and the rest of the Arab world.

I don't give up even on the people of Iran. I speak to them periodically.
And I know that they wish to see a change as well. But this is further in
the future. Today, our job is to prevent aggression and to give peace its
deserved chance. In this, President Macron, Emmanuel, you are an
indispensable partner.

I thank you again for your hospitality, for your friendship and for your
efforts."