Prime Minister and acting Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that he is going to present that same day “an Internet survey that we are carrying out in 54 different countries on all six continents. We see a change there, where Israel’s assets are very much in demand.”
“Almost all of them, 50 countries, see Israel as a strong country with assets,” Netanyahu boasted. “Forty-seven of the 54 countries, including Arab countries, want to tighten links with Israel.”
“What you feel here, what we are experiencing in the unending flow of leaders coming here – prime ministers, presidents, foreign ministers, diplomats, senators, members of Congress,” the PM continued. “This also finds expression in our survey and this is both interesting and important. When we move from the level of governments to that of publics and this is happening, and you will soon see the data, there is a change here. I would say that it is a very welcome change which, in my opinion, contains within itself the greatest blessing and the greatest hope, especially in the changes that we are beginning to see in the Arab world, which are truly unprecedented. It could be that there is hope here for a new way that will, in the end, bear fruit for us regarding peace.”
The PM’s press release did not provide the Internet address for the survey, so we called up the Government Press Office and were immediately navigated through a minor vestige of hell at the end of which the system spewed us out as if we were from one of those seven countries that don’t wish for tighter links with Israel (we’re not, we love Israel).
Netanyahu told the Knesset committee he welcomed this opportunity “to discuss the foreign policy of the State of Israel – its goals, actions and results,” insisting that Israel is, “in effect, in the midst of a diplomatic flourishing that is unprecedented in the annals of the State of Israel.”
“We are in continuous contact with a growing number of countries on six continents […] replete with meetings, and agreements with the heads of major powers, especially the US, China, Russia, India, Japan and many G-20 countries.”
It’s a shame that with all that impressive global influence, the PM did not manage to get himself invited to the meeting between representatives of the US, Russia and Jordan, that decided to allow Iran, Israel’s sworn enemy, to camp as close as three miles from Israel’s border.
The acting Foreign Minister told the committee that Israel’s foreign policy is experiencing “great changes,” which are “not automatic – they are the result of policy.”
“This policy includes two strong bases,” Netanyahu explained. “The economic-technological strength of Israel which all countries are interested in; and the intelligence-military strength of Israel which almost all countries are interested in.”
“We are weaving these together into diplomatic strength that is finding expression in the tightening of bilateral ties and – though it will take several years – multilateral ties. For example, Mexico decided to change ten of its votes now at the UN General Assembly, India has already changed. Things are happening even in the Arab world – we will discuss this in committee; these changes are far-reaching,” he said, concluding: “But the most important thing is the bilateral fabric in which Israel is gradually becoming a global force due to its value.”