Pivoting East, PM touts ties before Abe visit

With anti-Semitism on the rise in Europe, Israel is looking for trading partners in the East, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says ahead of a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday.

“Western Europe is undergoing a wave of Islamization, of anti-Semitism, and of anti-Zionism. It is awash in such waves, and we want to ensure that for years to come the State of Israel will have diverse markets all over the world,” he tells the cabinet during its weekly Sunday meeting. “I put emphasis on markets to the East not because we want to give up on other markets. But we definitely want to reduce our dependence on certain markets in Western Europe.”

Abe and Netanyahu are set to meet Sunday and discuss expanding economic ties between Japan and Israel. The two met last year in Tokyo.

Abe will arrive with the heads of several major Japanese corporations.