Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu used the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Sunday to promote new markets in the Far East to reduce dependence on what he called the “wave of Islamization, anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism” sweeping Europe.
Decades of European condemnation of Israel, from allowing Jews to live in Judea and Samaria to Europe’s parallel financial prop for a failed Palestinian Authority, reached the boiling point with the announcement by the International Criminal Court that will begin to examine if there are grounds to investigate Israel for war crimes in the counter-terror war against Hamas last summer.
Netanyahu said that the visit of Abe and a huge delegation of 200 officials and businessmen from Japan will boost Israel’s economy while the Europe is being overrun by a wave of hate.
Netanyahu added:
These waves are washing over it and we would like to ensure that the State of Israel will have varied markets around the world. We would also like to decrease cartelization.
He noted “that the Japanese economy is the third largest in the world and there is a common desire, which found expression in my visit to Japan several months ago, to tighten relations, increase trade and increase investments between Israel and Japan. This fits in with my clear vision to vary our markets. This found expression in my trip to China one and a half years ago and in my meeting at the recent UN General Assembly with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as in the current visit. This is part of Israel’s opening to eastern markets.”
Israel Is not boycotting Europe or ignoring its marketers but is “also advancing the development of Israel in other areas.” In his welcome to Prime Minister Abe later in the day, Netanyahu said, “The future belongs to those who innovate. Japan is a country of innovation; Israel is a country of innovation. Together we can do a lot more and gain a lot more….
I believe that Israel, in turn, must diversify its markets to include Japan and the other great economies of Asia.”
Cyber security is one of the biggest strengths in the Israeli hi-tech industry and is sought by countries all over the world.
Israel has opened a trade office in Osaka in addition to operations in Tokyo.
Abe said, “Bilateral ties between Japan and Israel are now deepening in every field….It is said that hundreds of world leading global firms featuring cutting edge technologies now have their R&D bases in Israel…. We are now positioning ourselves in the major trend of marking a turning point in our economic relations.”