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Netanyahu: Israel will make ‘great partnership’ with Japan ‘even better’

“This is a great partnership and we’ll make it even better,” Netanyahu said of Israel’s ties with Japan. 

By: World Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in his Jerusalem office.

Abe’s two-day visit to Israel is part of his regional tour, which included Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

Netanyahu referred in the meeting to Israel’s recent exposure of Iran’s secret Amad Project to develop nuclear weapons, underscoring that Iran was in fact seeking a nuclear bomb. “Whoever does not want nuclear weapons does not prepare plans and certainly does not preserve them,” commented the Israeli leader to his Japanese counterpart.

Netanyahu stressed said that the nuclear deal with Iran “was a bad agreement, based on Iran’s lies and deceit.”

Netanyahu also condemned Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas for anti-Semitic remarks delivered to the Palestinian leadership, and said that they “reveal the true reason why there is no peace.”

The two leaders discussed the advancement of many bilateral issues, while Abe invited Netanyahu to visit Japan again. Netanyahu visited Japan in 2014

“This is your second visit to Israel,” Netanyahu told Abe. “My most recent visit to Japan was spectacular. We see the tremendous growth in Japanese investments in Israel, Israeli investments in Japan, and  technology opportunities. This is a great partnership and we’ll make it even better.”

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Abe expressed hope that Netanyahu will come back to Japan “in the near future.”

“I am very happy to note that there has been the dramatic increase in the Japanese investment to Israel under my administration,” he noted.

Abe headed a business delegation from Japan to Israel, which includes many of CEOs from Japan,

“I do hope that you’ll have a productive discussion with the business leaders in the summit meetings that we are planning to have. And also I do hope that we’ll further investment development between the two sides,” the Japanese premier stated.

‘This is only the beginning’

The two agreed to move forward on the issue of direct flights from Japan to Israel, which would increase tourism, investment and business.

After their meeting, the prime ministers met with senior Japanese businesspeople.

Both leaders welcomed the dramatic increase in Japanese investments in Israel. “This is only the beginning,” Netanyahu said.

The Japanese businesspeople praised the actions of the two governments in encouraging mutual investments and a proper business climate.

In January 2015, Israel’s Cabinet decided to strengthen economic ties with Japan, which resulted in a clear trend of increased economic cooperation in a variety of fields.

In January 2017 an unprecedented bilateral investment protection agreement was signed following which the quantity and scope of Japanese investments in Israel have increased over a thousand-fold. For 2017, it was reported that Japanese companies had made approximately 50 investments in Israeli companies.

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Israel and Japan cooperate extensively on issues of economy and trade, cyber, science, academia, and health, among others.

Japan is reportedly consulting with Israel on its counter-terrorism efforts ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.