Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday met with Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Motegi Toshimitsu, at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.
President Herzog welcomed Foreign Minister Motegi to Israel, in a visit that signifies the deepening ties between Israel and Japan.
During their meeting, President Herzog and Foreign Minister Motegi discussed the importance of implementing President Trump’s Peace Plan in Gaza, including the urgent need for the last hostage still held in Gaza, fallen Yassam officer Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili, to be returned home to Israel. President Herzog and Foreign Minister Motegi also discussed how to further strengthen bilateral relations across the fields of innovation, technology, science, security, and tourism.
“Welcome, Foreign Minister, dear friend,” Herzog began. “It’s not the first time that you are here, not the first time that we are meeting, and I want to congratulate you on re-entering the position of Foreign Minister of Japan. I believe now the circumstances are such that we can enhance for both nations our relations in so many spheres to impact both our economies – doing good in the world together.”
He added, “I think we can have strategic partnerships that encompass many fields, and I think that the joint interests of our nations on various topics, including security, including science, including technology, can surpass all the targets that we’ve met in the past, and I think we can exit from the standstill that we had now towards the direction of improving both our relations and our mutual economic ties.”
“Thank you very much for coming here, and we will end by crying out loud for the return of our missing hostage, the last one, Ran Gvili, whose family is waiting for his return and, of course, for better stability and a future of peace in the Day After in the region.
“I want to add that we look forward to the involvement of Japan in the Day After, planning the implementation of President Trump’s initiative, which was approved by the Security Council, and this is the basis for disarming Hamas and moving forward and giving hope to the children of Gaza so that they can live a decent life like the children of the region and the world. And of course, we believe that one thing has to be made clear: terror is out of the question. We will fight terror, and all regional efforts that we are carrying out are aimed at dismantling the capabilities of terror and enabling a better future for the region.”
Foreign Minister Motegi said: “It is an honor to meet you again. Your Excellency, I remember our last meeting, which was four years ago when I visited here in Israel last time. Let me express my deepest condolences to the victims of the October 7th terrorist attack.”
“Japan has strongly condemned the brutal act of terror committed by Hamas, and we also reiterate our position that Hamas must be disarmed. To improve the situation in Israel and Palestine, we believe that the steady implementation of the Comprehensive Plan is important, and Japan is ready to play an active role for that.”