(VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday morning, 20 Kislev, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, met with British Secretary of State for International Trade Dr. Liam Fox. The Prime Minister welcomed the steps that Israel and Britain are taking to advance bilateral trade on the same terms and in any situation.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, at the start of the meeting: “You have been a great friend [of Israel] and a great champion of our friendship and our close relationship that I think will work in many ways economically in terms of security, in terms of protecting our common values.

“We want to make sure that we continue to expand our mutual trade under all conditions. I leave those conditions to you. But I think that there is a clear trajectory of increase in balanced trade between the two of us. We each get the benefits and it’s growing and growing and growing. Britain is in fact our largest trade partner in Europe, one of our most important trading partners in the world. We value the friendship. We value the prospects for the future. So, in that spirit I welcome you here.”

The Prime Minister added: “We share something else that I think is important for trade and for the future. We share a great technological prowess. We can each do a lot separately, but I think we can do more together. Britain and Israel are two highly technological countries.”

British International Trade Secy. Fox: “It’s wonderful to be back this time as the trade secretary. As you know I’ve been a longstanding supporter of the bilateral relationship and this is an ongoing commitment.

“And as we leave the European Union and Britain takes up its place as an independent state of the WTO we want to push our concept of free trade even further in a world where the sobering calls of protectionism is rising. Two free trade nations like ours need to make the case for global free trade because trade spreads prosperity. It underpins social cohesion. It supports political stability and that’s the collective building block of our security. So, it is genuinely a win-win.

“As Britain leaves the EU, we want to deepen our strategic relationships with those countries who share our values, who share our concepts of wealth creation, spreading prosperity and security and democracy and rule of law. So, I think we have a reasonable agenda to work on.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem/Photo Credit: GPO)