Netanyahu to focus on Iran when meeting leaders during Holocaust Forum
“I will discuss Iran, the various developments in the region and strengthening ties between the countries,” the prime minister said.
By LAHAV HARKOVPRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a conference in Jerusalem Wednesday. Will the US action in Iraq help his campaign?(photo credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
Iran’s nuclear ambitions will be on the agenda in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meetings with world leaders visiting Jerusalem this week for the Fifth World Holocaust Forum, he said at the opening of Sunday’s cabinet meeting.Netanyahu is expected to meet with US Vice President Mike Pence, Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron, who will be in Jerusalem along with 43 other leaders to attend the event at Yad Vashem marking 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz and calling to fight antisemitism today.“I will discuss Iran, the various developments in the region and strengthening ties between the countries,” the prime minister said.Netanyahu’s comments come as France, Germany and the UK have triggered the dispute mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, after Iran began enriching uranium again last year.A French diplomatic source said Netanyahu and Macron have a good interpersonal relationship and respect each other’s stances on Iran, though they differ. France seeks to get Iran back to the negotiating table, as opposed to the American strategy of increasing sanctions, which Netanyahu enthusiastically supports.Netanyahu also mentioned at the cabinet meeting that he and Putin will dedicate a new monument in Jerusalem’s Sacher Park commemorating the Red Army soldiers of World War II and the siege of Leningrad, now called St. Petersburg. Approximately 70,000 Jewish fighters in the Red Army lost their lives in World War II.However, the Russian Embassy to Israel would confirm only that Putin is attending the event at Yad Vashem on Thursday.Putin may cut his trip to one day, shorter than originally planned, because of shake-ups at home. His entire government resigned last week to facilitate major constitutional changes Putin proposed, which would allow him to stay in power past the end of his fourth presidential term 2024.The Russian president is considering announcing during his visit that he will pardon Naama Issachar, the 26-year-old American-Israeli sentenced to more than seven years in prison in Russia for allegedly possessing 9.5 grams of cannabis in her luggage, while on a stopover in Moscow on her way from India to Israel.Netanyahu expressed hope in the cabinet meeting that he will “hear good news soon” from Putin about Issachar.
Macron plans to arrive in Israel on Tuesday night and to stay until Thursday afternoon. While here, he plans to visit the Memorial to the Deportation of Jews from France near Beit Shemesh. The memorial is in a forest in the Elah Valley, which has 80,000 trees in memory of the 80,000 Jews deported from France in the Holocaust.In addition, the French President will meet with about 500 French-Israelis in an event organized by the CRIF, the umbrella organization of French Jewish organizations.Macron also has meetings with President Reuven Rivlin and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas scheduled during his visit.French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, who will be part of Macron’s delegation to Israel, plans to visit the graves of nine victims of terrorist attacks in Paris who are buried in the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem.Netanyahu also spoke of how far the Jewish people have come since the Holocaust at the cabinet meeting.“We came out of the pits of death, established our state, brought it to the greatest decade in its history, and we are marching it toward additional unprecedented achievements,” Netanyahu said, “but along this whole long journey, we will never forget our brothers and sisters who were killed in the Holocaust. We will ensure the eternity of Israel in their name and memory.”Moshe Kantor, the Russian-Jewish billionaire philanthropist who is behind the World Holocaust Forum, discussed the motivation behind the event with Channel 13, expressing concern that these days, the world is “almost reaching the level of antisemitism… that was before World War II.“Antisemitism is not just the Jewish issue,” Kantor said. “If you allow extremists to fight Jews, it is the direct way to global catastrophe, and we should stop it.”
