Netanyahu tells Austrian leader innovation as important as fighting terror

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells visiting Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern that fostering innovation is as important as efforts to eradicate jihadist terrorism.

At a joint press conference, Netanyahu thanks Kern for his government’s efforts to combat Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism in Europe, before drawing parallels between the challenges facing the two countries.

“We are both small states, Austria and Israel, similar in population. We have high income per capita, but we know that the challenge is twofold – one is to ensure the continual march of our peoples and the world to modernity against the forces that want to take us back to an early medievalism. Fighting radical terror is something that joins all of us, and is a continual obligation,” Netanyahu says.

“But equally, seizing the opportunities of the future I think is an obligation of leaders and societies. The future belongs to those who innovate. The only way that we can continually sustain high growth for our economies is through technology and innovation.”

“We can achieve more together than separately, and there’s a lot to achieve to promise a future of prosperity and security and peace for our peoples,” the prime minister says.