Netanyahu: Israel on front line against ‘barbarism’ for 69 years

US President Donald Trump has said he wants to reach an “historic agreement” and pursue “greater cooperation” in the fight against terrorism, after landing in Israel earlier today.

Trump, who is on the second leg of his first foreign tour, told Israeli officials at Ben Gurion Airport that the bond between the United States and Israel is “unbreakable”. He also spoke about the “rare opportunity” to bring peace, stability and “future harmony” in the region.

Trump and his wife, Melania, were greeted on the tarmac by the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli President, Reuven Rivlin, and both their wives.

In his address, which followed comments by both Rivlin and Netanyahu, Trump said that he had come to the sacred land to “reaffirm the unbreakable bond between the United States and the state of Israel” which he described as “one of the world’s great civilisation, a strong resilient determined and prosperous nation”.

Read: Trump ‘swallowing’ Israeli propaganda by comparing Hamas to Daesh

Netanyahu thanked Trump for “the powerful expression of his friendship to Israel” by deciding to visit Israel in his first foreign trip, which the Israeli prime minster pointed out had never been done by previous US presidents.

In his short address, the Israeli premier commented on Trump’s speech in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, saying that the US president had “delivered a forceful speech where he called on all nations to drive out terrorists and extremists” and “for the forces of civilisations to confront the forces of barbarism”.

The Israeli prime minister, who has repeatedly described his country’s conflict with Palestinians as being no different to the conflict with terrorist groups like Daesh, told Trump that for 69 years Israel has been confronting uncivilised and barbaric forces and “manned the front lines of civilisation and built a modern vibrant Jewish state.”

Netanyahu, implying Israel’s willingness to work towards peace with its neighbours,  said he: “Hope[d] that one day Israeli prime minster can travel from Tel-Aviv to Riyadh”, without mentioning that Riyadh had offered to normalise relations with Tel-Aviv as early as 2002 as long as it abided by international law and agreed to a two-state solution.

Israeli President, Reuven Rivlin, described the visit as “a symbol of the unbreakable bond between Israel and America”.

“You are the President of Israel’s greatest ally and a true friend of Israel and of the Jewish people,” Rivlin said before declaring:

The world needs a strong United States; the Middle East needs a strong United States, Israel needs a strong United States and the United States needs a strong Israel.

The “Middle East” he believes “suffers from terrorism and madness the partnership between the Unites Atates and Israel shines like a beacon of liberty and progress.”