Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin met Monday with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who is visiting Israel. Netanyahu and Kagame met privately at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, and then continued to an expanded work meeting, discussing boosting the bilateral ties between the two countries. "Well, we're very happy to see a great friend of Israel, a great personal friend, President Paul Kagame from Rwanda," Netanyahu said during the receiving ceremony. "I think Israel is very fortunate to have you as a friend, I think Rwanda is very fortunate to have you as their leader. Welcome, friend." Rivlin noted that Israel and Rwanda "are two nations who understand the horror of genocide, and we must show what humanity can achieve with cooperation and understanding. We know that Rwanda is now going to be a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council. This is a body which is always against Israel, so we welcome all those who are prepared to speak for us." Kagame thanked Netanyahu and Rivlin saying, "To be here it's like coming home. We are happy to be received by excellent friends with whom we have links for years and do many things together that have meaning to peoples on both sides. So, I'm just happy to be here. "The cooperation between our countries is thriving in many fields, including technology, agriculture, energy, and security. We appreciate what Israel has to offer us in these areas and in other areas, and we are very happy to work with you. ... Rwanda is open for business and we look forward to welcoming private sector delegations from Israel even more frequently in the future," he said. Netanyahu further welcomed the Rwandan delegation saying that during his past meeting with Kagame, he "voiced the hope that Israel could come back to Africa in a big way, and that Africa could come back to Israel in a big way. We discussed this for some time. And you said, well, I think I can help. And in fact, you did help. I would say you were the indispensable bridge on which we marched to make our return to Africa, step by step, with very sound advice and very wise counsel. Together we chartered this course, coming first to West Africa, where we visited among other things your beautiful country which is making impressive progress under your leadership and then other countries as well; and then East Africa ; and we'll be making a third trip very soon, in one year. "President Rivlin has already mentioned the fact that both of our peoples possess, a tragic legacy. Ours in the Holocaust, you in the great genocide that befell your people. I'm not sure how many of my Israeli compatriots know that President Kagame personally led the military effort that put a stop to this carnage after more than a million people were butchered, a million children, women, defenseless men. And with your courage, you put an end to this and began rebuilding this torn nation. We could see the impressive gains that you are making. In fact it is our, one of our deepest pleasures to be able to cooperate with you in rebuilding your state, rebuilding it in agriculture and water and so many other areas, and security as well. "We have pledged, I think both our peoples, one simple pledge: 'Never again.' Never again -- we, who witnessed the greatest holocaust in history, you who witnessed perhaps one of the most recent ones, never again. That's another great bond between us. You have been a consistent friend to us." Israel, the prime minister continued, "sees how you stand up for Israel in international forums. You already expressed a simple principle that we believe in, that is that bilateral relations should be reflected in multilateral forums. There is a dissonance, obviously between us and quite a few nations still. We saw that in the absurd vote in UNESCO that said that King David was not in Jerusalem, he was in Tibet. His son, Solomon, didn't build the temple, he built it in South America, I don't know. I mean, it's absurd, the whole denial of history, the denial of the Bible. "These absurdities still take place in international forums and they do damage to those forums. They cannot change the truth. But it happens to be my hope that over time, over a decade this will change in international forums. There is one country that I could say categorically, it doesn't require change, it already speaks its mind and speaks the truth in our bilateral relations and in the international relations and that's Rwanda under the leadership of President Paul Kagame. This is why, another reason why, we welcome you here in Israel with an open heart and open arms. Welcome, Mr. President," Netanyahu concluded.
