Fiji Prime Minister visits Jerusalem, meets Netanyahu

Island nation thanks for its support in international forums by PM.

By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFF
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama (photo credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama
(photo credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)
Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday, during a state visit to Israel.
Bainimarama, who's touring the Middle East with an aim to discuss United Nations peacekeeping in the region, asked for Israel's help in combating climate change and invited the Israeli prime minister to visit the Pacific Island Nation.
"We are here to help, we are here to keep the peace and that commitment will continue now and in the years ahead. I'm also looking forward to Israel's support, Sir, on a range of issues, on medical, on renewable energy, including agriculture, especially our effort to draw global attention to the need for more decisive action on climate change," Bainimarama told Netanyahu at a joint news conference.
Netanyahu thanked his counterpart for their support in international forums, and joked that if peace talks with the Palestinians were to take place on the island nation, he wouldn't mind if they take an extra week.
After meeting Netanyahu the Fijian prime minister also visited Yad Vashem.
Bainimarama attended a ceremony at the museum's 'Hall of Names', where the round walls are covered with photos of victims of the Nazis, laying a wreath and lighting an "eternal flame" to commemorate the 6 million victims of the Holocaust.
Netanyahu chose not to meet French envoy Pierre Vimont, who came to invite Israel to participate in the forthcoming international peace conference in France, which aims to break the deadlock between Israel and the Palestinians.
Israel formally declined the invitation, and insisted that only direct negotiations could end the conflict.