Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara on Tuesday night honored former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen J. Harper with the dedication of the new JNF-KKL Hula lake preserve visitors center named after Harper. The celebration took place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu and JNF-KKL Chairman Daniel Atar awarded Harper for his contribution to JNF-KKL and the State of Israel.
Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked: “Israel has had the great fortune of having new friends from everywhere in the world. We have a great challenge from Iran and the radical Muslims, but we have new friends in the Arab world. We have new friends in Africa, in Asia, in Latin America.
“I believe that the best friendship is the one that is not only based on common interests, and there are definitely many of those. I believe that the best friendship is the one that is based on an alliance of values. This is what we have with Canada, and this is what we have with tonight’s guest. We have it in abundance. Stephen, you have stood up for those values time and again. You’re still doing that today. And we welcome you once again to Jerusalem. Welcome, friend.”
On a different topic, Netanyahu said: “Iran expands its aggression. It seeks to envelop Israel. It seeks to threaten Israel. It seeks to destroy Israel. We fight back. And I also want to say, given Iran’s efforts to expand its nuclear weapons program, expand its enrichment of uranium for making atomic bombs, I repeat here once again: We will never let Iran develop nuclear weapons. This is not only for our security and our future; it’s for the future of the Middle East and the world.”
On another different topic, the PM noted: “Sara is having her birthday today, and you can see our friendship when we celebrate it here with these wonderful friends.”