Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Wednesday with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who is on his first official visit to Israel. Mattarella is considered pro-Israeli, and the Italian government is one of Israel's steadfast allies in the European Union. After their meeting, Netanyahu and Mattarella held a joint press conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem. Netanyahu offered Israel's "deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the earthquakes that struck Italy in recent months. We wish a speedy recovery to the wounded. Israel has extended its offer to help, and if you need it, we are there. You are great friends, and you come to a country that has a fond sentiment for Italy." Speaking of the recent resolution by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization that effectively denied Jewish links to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said, "We've just had an absurd decision of UNESCO that said that the Jewish people have no connection to the Temple Mount. "Well, the Arch of Titus was built by Titus' brother, the Emperor Domitian. He wasn't a Zionist propagandist. And he obviously was depicting that long, thousands of years, connection to the Temple Mount, to Jerusalem and to this country of the Jewish people. "That absurd resolution obviously shocked us in many ways, but it didn't leave us speechless. We were gravely disappointed, obviously, over Italy's vote, and I was delighted to hear Prime Minister [Matteo] Renzi saying that he too was shocked by the UNESCO vote and Italy's abstention. And I welcomed his statement, his clear, forthright statement, that Italy would change its vote in any such future resolutions. I deeply appreciate Prime Minister Renzi's words," Netanyahu said. "UNESCO's attempts to erase Jewish history are an attempt to say that Jews really don't have any connection to our land. It's not only false, blatantly false; it also makes the achievement of peace harder." Speaking of the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Netanyahu said, "Mr. President, I know you've just met with the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Sadly, he continues to refuse to accept a Jewish state in any boundaries, and this remains the core of the conflict, this persistent Palestinian refusal to accept a Jewish state in any configuration. "I think the focus that people place on settlements is wrong. It's just as wrong as when people said that the core of the conflict -- in the singular -- in the great Middle East was the Palestinian issue. It wasn't and never was -- not in Tunisia, not in Libya, not in Yemen, not in Iraq, not in Syria. There is a battle going on between modernity and medievalism. We stand firmly on the side of modernity. "But it is equally wrong to think that the conflict between us and the Palestinians is rooted in the settlements. It preceded the settlements by half a century. And when we left Gaza and all the settlements, they continued, continued to fire rockets at us. And I turned not only to Hamas, but to President Abbas, and I said, 'Would you recognize a Jewish state, assuming we solve the settlement problem-' And they won't, because the real settlement issue is the settlements of Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Haifa, Acre -- the persistent refusal to recognize a Jewish state in any boundary." The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Netanyahu said, "is not and never was about a Palestinian state, which successive Israeli governments, including this prime minister, are willing to arrange -- a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state. "This conflict was never about the Palestinian state. It was and is about the Jewish state, and unless and until our Palestinian neighbors face this, confront these demons, give up the ghost of trying to destroy the Jewish state by this or that means, peace will be harder to achieve. Denying our history is one of the means of denying the Jewish state. This is the bad news. "Now, the good news, the incredible news, one that fills me with great hope, is that there is a dramatic change taking place in the Arab world, and that change is that many of the Arab countries see Israel no longer as their enemy, but as their ally, even their vital ally, in fighting against Islamist terrorism, militant Islam, either led by Iran or led by Islamic State. "Here are two sentences that summarize everything that I said. I am hopeful as never before. If we said in the past that if we break through with the Palestinians, we'll have broader peace with the Arab world, I think the odds are that it's now going to -- peace is going to be achieved through a reverse path. Not that the Palestinians will bring peace with the broader Arab world, but a broader rapprochement with the Arab world will bring peace with the Palestinians. "Israel's hand is extended to peace for all those who want to make peace with it. "We have a belief in the future. We have a belief in technology, in progress, as a great way of solidifying peace and advancing it with our neighbors and with our friends like Italy and elsewhere in the world. It's in this spirit of hope and peace that I welcome you to Jerusalem, Mr. President. Welcome once again to you and your delegation."
