I am glad to have had this opportunity today for a long and friendly meeting with the Prime Minister of the State of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. We have known each other for a long time, we have respected each other for a long time. As you know, Israel is a friend and key partner of Italy, in the Middle East and at global level.
Today, we have discussed our excellent bilateral relations, which have recently become stronger and we believe we can do much more together in the months to come. We want to increase our cooperation in the most innovative sectors (as you know, Israel has achieved extraordinary things in the field of technology), such as artificial intelligence, cybernetics, and cybersecurity, as well as technology applied to agriculture. We have spoken about this a lot today. As you know, Italy is experiencing a water crisis, for example, and the Government has already taken action on this, but Israel has done extraordinary work over the years from this point of view, transforming a possible weakness into a great strength. I believe this is one of the many sectors in which we can cooperate more.
We spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu about the need for another intergovernmental meeting between Italy and Israel, as one hasn’t been held since 2013. The next one should be held in Israel and we would like to organise it as soon as possible. 
We discussed the regional situation and Italy’s full support for the process to normalise relations between Israel and a number of Arab countries. Prime Minister Netanyahu has certainly done very important work in this regard. We are ready to support all initiatives aimed at supporting the resumption of a political process also between Israel and Palestine. I conveyed Italy’s concern for the situation, and expressed our solidarity and condemnation regarding terrorist attacks, which we have seen also recently. We want to do everything we can and we are willing to do everything we can to facilitate the resumption of agreements and a de-escalation of the violence that concerns us all. We reiterated our strong support for the joint communiqué that was adopted at the recent Aqaba meeting as well as our encouragement for the commitments to be maintained. 
We also discussed anti-Semitism. Among other things, we talked about the Italian Jewish community and the Jewish community here in Rome, whom, as you know, I recently visited when I attended the Menorah lighting ceremony during the celebration of Hanukkah. So, we also talked about anti-Semitism in relation to which the Government is very committed: we have appointed a Government representative to deal specifically with anti-Semitism and I also wish to recall our full support, also with recognition of the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. The Government is doing important work on this.
A lot could be said about our cultural and historical ties and long-standing friendship; I would like to say that there are many things that connect us and many plans that can benefit from a direct, pragmatic and frank relationship between us, but also a relationship of friendship. I am therefore very pleased that Prime Minister Netanyahu is here and I am certain that it will be the first of many meetings we will have in the future.
Thank you, Prime Minister.

[Courtesy translation]