Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet British Prime Minister Theresa May this afternoon at 10 Downing Street in London. This will be the first meeting between the two leaders since US President Donald Trump announced that he would not approve the agreement on Iran's nuclear program. Netanyahu will present May with concrete "nix or fix" proposals on the nuclear agreement despite May's announcement two weeks ago that Britain sees the agreement as an achievement and the UK government plans sticking to it.
After Trump's speech in which he proclaimed that he would not approve the agreement, May said, "We remain firmly committed to the agreement and its implementation by all sides. Keeping the agreement is in our joint security interests."
She urged the US administration and Congress to reconsider the security implications for the US and its allies before taking measures that would harm the agreement such as re-imposing sanctions on Iran and removing the framework agreement.
Despite the difference of opinion between the UK and Israel, Netanyahu will set out several proposals to May as he has done over the past few weeks in his talks with other world leaders who signed the agreement.
After his talks with May, Netanyahu will go on to meet British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
In the evening, Netanyahu will attend the main state event to mark 100 years since the Balfour Declaration. The festive dinner will be hosted by the descendants of Lord Balfour and Baron Rothschild at Lancaster House where he will speak before 150 selected guests.
In her speech, May is expected to declare that "Britain is proud of making the breakthrough towards the establishment of the State of Israel."
She will briefly mention Britain's commitment to peace between Israel and the Palestinians and her support for a two-state solution with a secure and prosperous Israel alongside a sovereign and vibrant Palestinian State.
She will devote part of her speech, excerpts of which have already been released, to the fight against antisemitism. May will stress that there cannot be any excuse for antisemitism, just as there cannot be any excuse for hatred of Muslims, Christians or people because of the place of their birth or color of their skin.
She will refer to contemporary antisemitism by saying, “Today there is a new and pernicious form of anti-Semitism which uses criticism of the actions of the Israeli government as a despicable justification for questioning the very right of Israel to exist.”
May will call for an international effort to redefine the term antisemitism to include those who justify hatred through such criticism.
"Criticism of Israel should never be an excuse to hate the Jewish people."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 2, 2017
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017