Netanyahu takes off for London

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, head out on an official visit to Britain.

Before boarding the plane, Netanyahu says his trip is meant to garner support for Israel, which, he claims, is Europe’s “only protection” against Islamist extremism in the Middle East.

“I am leaving now to meet British Prime Minister David Cameron,” he says in a statement. “This is in continuation of the dozens of calls and meetings I have had since the elections with prime ministers, presidents and foreign ministers of dozens of countries, including meetings with the Italian prime minister, and with Lithuanian and European Union leaders just yesterday. In these talks I explain one thing: Europe needs to support Israel, not pressure Israel and not attack Israel, but support Israel, which is the only true protection Europe has in the Middle East against surging extremist Islam.

“We are prepared to act together with Europe in Africa and other places to fight extremist Islam but this requires a change of approach. This change will take time but we will implement it. This will be one focus of my talks with David Cameron. The second thing is that we need to fight extremist Islam not only at the borders, as we are doing, but also within our territory. As soon as I return I will hold a meeting to summarize a meeting that I already had about boosting forces, stepping up enforcement, minimum sentences, blowing up suicide terrorists’ houses and other steps that we are determined to carry out against all those who try to attack us here, within the country. My policy is zero tolerance for terrorism and this is what we will do.”