Interview with Prime Minister Netanyahu

how fascinating to hear these diverse voices from across the political spectrum and multiple visions for the future of the Jewish state today and throughout the global forum we have the privilege to wrestle with these challenging ideas we are about to hear from the leader who bears the heavy responsibility not only for engaging these disparity points but also for making the ultimate decisions and charting a future for the Democratic State of Israel 110 years ago the idea of a Jewish state was nearly inconceivable but today I'm standing here about to introduce an interview between the prime minister of the Jewish state of Israel and five young American Jewish Committee staff members from around the world for some people it might seem odd for an advocacy organization to send its youngest staff members to leaves with a head of state but at AJC we know our young talent is as essential as our veterans our future is as bright as our past AJC has a proud history of distinguishing itself by taking bold steps to invest in the future we have blazed the trail with our award-winning innovative access program for young leaders we're pioneering a new era of Muslim Jewish relations at a time when many think the challenges are too great we go above and beyond to empower our young talented staff if you need any more proof of the forward-thinking culture at AJC just check out our global forum geofilter on snapchat or ask anyone younger than me to show it to you it's because of that I to the future and the challenges we face that now is the time to invest in a JC to invest in me and my peers at Global Forum this year we're joined by an unprecedented number of young leaders hundreds of access leaders from around the country more than 130 us college students goldman fellows and interns emerging AJC staff from around the world and students from across Europe Latin America Asia and Israel all of these young leaders finds at AJC access a place where they can engage the most relevant and pressing issues facing our generation by investing in us you invest in our collective Jewish future for a limited time thanks to a generous challenge grant all-new and increase crease gifts to AJC will be matched one to one and anyone who joins a JC's National Leadership Council will have the increased portion of their gift matched two to one your support ensures that a JC has the power to act for generations to come now please turn your attention to the screens for an intimate and wide-ranging conversation with the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu okay sure mr. prime minister my name is Fabian vice but I work at HACC office in Berlin one of four soon to be five offices in Europe as a non Jew I am a proud supporter of Israel because I strongly believe it embodies my personal liberal European values so I'm really glad that one of our top priority issues from AGC is strengthening the relationship between the European Union and Israel so what can you share with us about the greatest opportunities and challenges in the Germany European Israeli relationship I think that the leadership of Germany understands that Israel is a Bosch of freedom of values that ultimately are what define our societies I think they also understand though I'm not sure the public understands that Israel is essentially keeping the western part of the Middle East intact and preventing the tragedy of Isis from sweeping many many more millions in the region and the consequence would be that they would flee the region they would flee obviously to Europe into Germany so Israel in many ways is the Guardian many European values and in many ways the guardian of Europe and the this most volatile part of the world this doesn't mean we see eye to eye and everything we have occasional debates but I think this underscores the fundamental relationship and on a European level what you think are the greatest challenges and opportunities I think the greatest challenge is the attempt to G legitimize Israel on the one side and the growing awareness in some circles on the other side that Israel perform this vital function for the protection of such we the protection of Europe in the heart of the Middle East the most peculiar thing is that there's been a much greater and more positive change of the view of Israel among the Arab states here many of the Arab leaders and governments understand that Israel is not their enemy but their ally in the battle against Islamic militancy either the Shiite led by Iran or the Sunni led by by - okay there so there's now see Israel is there parking and they want to work with Israel there is in Europe challenge of this strange and unholy alliance between radical Islamists and the radical ultra left I think it's not good for Europe and I think it's not good for for peace I am Shanna Benoit did I work in a DC Paris office as you know in recent years many French Jews have decided to leave the country because of rising anti-semitism what messages do you have for my friends on me Jews who decide to stay in France at least for now look every Jews should have the right to live everywhere anywhere in peace and tranquility and security that's critical and I think the French government successful French governments have stood up for that and rightly so but every Jew also has another right the right to come to the State of Israel because Israel is and when continued to be the home of every Jew who wants to come here the choice is your choice it's an individual choice that is something you have to decide for yourself but for those Jews who decide from anywhere in the world to come to Israel this is what Israel is about it's the home of any Jew who wants to come you decide hey Thank You mr. prime minister my name is Ella Goldberg and I work here in the AJC Jerusalem office and I proudly made the decision to make alia over seven years ago from the US thank you thank you very much but many of my friends and family still remain back in the US and recently they've been asking me about current events here and everything that's been going on and asking about coalition politics and the nature of it and the changes that would be really wanna go well I was wondering I was hoping actually that you could provide some insight into the recent changes and what that means for the future of Israel look I think is really as a wide broad stable government we have a lot of challenges we have a lot of opportunities I asked the Zionist camp to injure the government I still leave the door open for them to do it and broadening the government with the the other party of mr. Lieberman but we all agree the more the better so I hope we have the broadest government possible but our policy will be to pursue peace with security and to see if we can use the regional opportunities to advance a workable solution with the Palestinians domestically I think we're going to continue the same where we're not Israel is a vibrant democracy and continue that the very fact that we have all this angst and discussion is a reflection of our freedom it's a reflection of our you know of our unstinted debate you ever go into the Knesset what's know yesterday I was there actually and heard you speak so the one thing you don't have a problem there is people to voice their opinion this is free raucous rambunctious democracy Free Press always supports me uh you should laugh I mean this is a real democracy and will always continue to be a real democracy you know you should be absolutely confident about that mr. Prime Minister my name is Janice Smith and I'm the Regional Director for the American Jewish Committee in Los Angeles California as you know is home to many college campuses where we've recently witnessed attempts to isolate and demonize Israel through BDS boycott divestment and sanctions and the building of anti-israel coalition's AJC works with pro-israel students from across the country to combat this discriminatory movement what would you say to pro-israel students who are entering or re-entering university campuses this fall I don't think the BDS is a threat to Israel in economic term but I think there is a moral outrage here the so-called progressives are actually regressive because they're attacking the one democracy imperfect tell me and show me the perfect democracy okay tell me a society that has no flaws warts and all Israel is a beacon of freedom and liberty and pluralism in the heart of a very dark region and who did they choose to apply their the BDS to in those campuses North Korea Iran Syria Hamas Hezbollah no Israel the one democracy so it's outrageous I think you should fight it even though it's not going to have the economic impact these people think you should fight it and these people are not opposed to this or that Israeli policy when you look at the roots of the BDS movement and what guides it they're opposed to Israel period and I think a forward-looking people people are concerned with justice people are concerned with human rights should oppose BDS my name is Daniel silver and I work for AJC's Asia Pacific Institute which was founded over 25 years ago now in recent years we've established deeper relations in Asia on the ground in Tokyo and in New Delhi and beyond Israel too has established greater relations with with Asia where do you see the the greatest potential of the Israel Asia relationship what do I expect future it's got to increase substantially both by government design but just by the nature of markets the nature of the cloud you know everybody's coming here because Israel is the innovation nation if you're any one of these economies not only in Asia anywhere in the world the future belongs to those who innovate technology is seeping and into every single place into your cars and your fridge into your bicycles anything and Israel is the place where it's happened we don't have for example an automotive industry you know we never produce a chassis or an engine right but you use ways you know what ways is jerk nods man in Israel okay ways were sold for a billion dollars just to Google okay cheap okay there's another company that is now developing in Jerusalem the technology for driverless cars okay okay style worth 10 million dollars that's automotive industry well the Japanese are looking into it the Chinese are looking into it everyone's looking into it so that that is happening but it's especially happening with Asia and there's one other thing that Israel is in a you know strategic crossroads and if you want to move goods from east to west and especially to Europe we're going to build a rail win between the railroads supporting a lot and it's done and that's another link not to replace the Suez Canal but to add to and that I can tell you that the Asian powers are very much interest in that so for a variety of reasons I think the relationship between Israel and Asia is expanding very rapidly and will continue to do so coming from opportunities to challenge us during our many conversations in billion or elsewhere officials have raised questions about the sincerity of Israel's commitment to the two-state solution you mean by sincerity we always say I know you're such a diplomat but maybe what what can you share is us to help address these concerns they're simple look if you repeat something something false if you repeat it again and again and again you again it assumes the appearance of self-evident truth okay but there's an acid test okay I call on President Abbas I just did the other day to meet me directly and begin negotiations without preconditions how do you get peace you get peace by having the two sides of the conflict sitting around the table working out their differences right and it always involves some kind of mutual compliment but you have to sit around the table I must have called him hundreds of times and I did so the other day reasonably the question of a Paris conference I said to Prime Minister of Oz France I said I have a better initiative for you not an international dick top people don't share you know the consequences of the decisions but the two parties together I mean invite Amazon and myself to a direct negotiations without preconditions in fact perhaps a good place to me nothing against Germany but I said this is here's a here's a different French initiative that could be very well of course I'm a Muslim didn't respond he's never responded to my in my calls for direct negotiations so here's the acid test of those who want to advance George peace or not who's willing to be right away without putting any without any negotiations about the negotiations just meet and begin to negotiate I'm willing to do so immediately and unfortunately the Palestinian leadership it's not and that's the truth and by the way if you get Abba to come to a side of your choosing have it fine I will come mr. Prime Minister moving away from the conflict for a moment I wanted to share that last year I was actually not able to get married in the State of Israel because we don't currently recognize non-orthodox marriages I did get married casually thank you very much in the u.s. actually I took my Israeli husband we went and to Boston and we had a civil ceremony there that was later recognized back here and then we had a ceremony with a non Orthodox rabbi here in Israel that wasn't recognized so as you know AJC does believe that religious pluralism should be a matter of national security for Israel and we've heard you speak a lot on this issue in the recent past I'm wondering what you feel the prospects are for all streams of Judaism to be recognized here in Israel well I'll say true two things which I think are undeniable facts the first is that the various denominations are making their presence felt in their activity increase in Israel over the years that's very clear since changing second is my own commitment to have Israel be the home of every Jew this doesn't mean that we resolve the Republic is a very difficult problem it'll ultimately we'll have to figure out a way that is mutually acceptable to the people or many people in Israel and the Jews around the world it's not an easy thing to do I recognize that but I think that we should strive for for the what I could this vision that makes Israel the home of every Jew and while we can't solve all the problems that doesn't mean that we shouldn't keep on moving to give that feeling to you and to everyone else who wants to make Israel their home mr. prime minister you alluded previously to the us-israel relationship and in recent years some have contended that that unbreakable bond between the United States and Israel has begun to fray at the seams including some heightened partisan differences and with the potential for long term consequences and implications how do you see it I think bipartisanship bipartisan support for Angela's crucial I have one rule in this room any delegation of senators or members of Congress who come to azure literally without exception I mean unless I'm engagements out of men you have abroad or maybe I'm involved in some security issues but that's a rule I actually I get complaints from Knesset members and I meet with members of Congress more often than I meet with them which is never mind we have learned we're not going to test that proposition but I think it has some merit and I need with Democrats and Republicans alike because I value that bipartisan cooperation sometimes not everyone is aware of the facts on the ground here in Israel and we have to work to persuade people to see the truth I don't need to present a false image of Israel I want to present the real facts of Israel you know the the militant Islam is they save so many horrible things but they say one thing they say we hate Israel because Israel is a small America they saved for us and the larger picture we are you and you are us and you know on this one they actually have that right that binding down right so I think it's important to communicate that to all parts of the American people and we've had a tremendous relationship we've not always agreed you know we had disagreements on the Iran deal because I thought you know the deal should have been structured not on a calendar I wanted to reduce the that is to condition the reduction or the lessening of constraints on Iran's nuclear program not by a calendar year but by change in the Iranian behavior that they stopped their aggression in the region which concerns all the countries in the region that they stopped the export of terrorism beyond the reach of even to the world we have a difference and it can happen between friends but it's between friends and it's the greatest friendship we have look we have to work hard to make sure that it continues eight Acey has brought more than 6,000 influentials to israel through our project interchange program from all across the world including Asia Africa and other places however were constrained with the number of people that we can have on these trips so what do you think about which regions or which countries or places with around the world that we should focus on for these project interchange trips I think that you should bring in the people who will shape the future of the world who should look at it because ultimately is rose in a global relationship our relations with the countries of the world is changing based on their perception of where the world is going and where their own countries are going the greatest opportunities for us with the influential countries I would say groups of countries let's see that Israel can be a tremendous asset to them and I think the more people see the advantages to a relationship with Israel the stronger those relations become by the way here's a peculiar thing when the relationship becomes stronger because of economic reasons or security reasons and so on then you'll begin to see a shift in for a more practical understanding of our security problems of our political of the realities of the political situation that's you know that's the way the world really works you know and so Israel is now remember Israel 68 years old we went 600,000 people on a beachhead here barely surviving we've become a global powerhouse of technology the innovation nation they have a very strong military that not only protects our own people but in many ways keep the real keeps our part of the region stable and people and we fight terrorism and share our intelligence with other countries so a lot of countries a lot of countries are beginning to appreciate that and it was going going on to the world there was an attempt to isolate us through BDS and the is this reality that just described of common interest that is creating tremendous opportunities for us and every continent you should look at the places where the greatest interest is for the greatest partnership and I'm giving you enough clues if you can't figure this out then what I've said is relevant if I can tell you right now that we have a delegation here in Israel from India and a group of university presidents so we're then we have a group from China coming in August Wow that strain did you say that you know I'd say yeah until you're in the right direction thank you very much keep doing what you're doing it's a great job you've been doing great stuff I have to say that I appreciate the leadership that you have shown that David Harris is shown in a way that I think is an available and admirable and thank you

Channel: American Jewish Committee

Views: 29,185

Rating: 4.323741 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: k64DQnG6Azg

Length: 22min 53sec (1373 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 06 2016