In Jerusalem, PM Denkov expresses Bulgaria’s strong support for Israel
Meeting Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on November 6, Bulgarian PM Nikolai Denkov – at the head of a government delegation – said that they had come to express their strong support for Israel and its citizens.
The visit by the Bulgarian delegation, which includes Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Maria Gabriel, comes a day short of a month since the Hamas terrorist organisation began its large-scale attack on Israel.
Greeting Denkov, Netanyahu said: “Prime Minister, welcome, thank you for coming and standing with Israel in Israel, your support is very important, we appreciate also the support of the entire people of Bulgaria”.
Denkov told Netanyahu: “I want to say that we were all shocked by the terrorist attacks that killed so many innocent people and it is extremely important that all the hostages can be released as soon as possible and that at least the International Committee of the Red Cross should have access to them immediately”.
Denkov said that Hamas and all its military and administrative structures should be eradicated “because this cannot continue like that”.
At the same time, Denkov said, “in the second month of this year we are concerned (about) what happens in the Gaza Strip, we know that you have all the rights to defend yourself in the frames of the international humanitarian law and the international law but it’s also important to have this humanitarian aid, without allowing it to be abused by the people there”.
Netanyahu replied: “You expressed very much our positions, we think we’re not only fighting our war, we think we’re fighting the battle of civilisation against barbarism – if civilisation doesn’t prevail, barbarism will”.
“We are also fighting an enemy that’s the most savage enemy since the Holocaust, that commits a double war crime, not only deliberately targeting civilians, but deliberately using their civilians as human shields, and while Israel is doing everything in its power to get the civilians out of harm’s war, Hamas is doing everything in its power to keep them there, sometimes at gunpoint,” Netanyahu said.
“So we will act not only in our right of self-defence but in defending our common values and our future but also in a way that minimises civilian casualties – and thank you again for your strong support, thank you,” he said.
At the close of the photo-op, Denkov said: “Let’s hope that wisdom will come back to this world -”
Netanyahu responded: “I think we have to prevail, that’s the important thing”.
(Photo: Office of the Prime Minister of the State of Israel)
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