Netanyahu powwows with Biden in Davos

Meeting called 'friendly and warm;' PM set to meet with Kerry and leaders of Argentina and the Netherlands, discuss Israel opportunities with technology giants

By Raphael Ahren
  • Raphael Ahren is a former diplomatic correspondent at The Times of Israel.
 21 January 2016, 1:07 pm
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left and US Vice President Joe Biden meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on January 21, 2015. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday met with US Vice President Joe Biden at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to discuss regional interests.

Netanyahu’s office said the two discussed security and strategic interests in the Middle East as well as energy.

“The meeting was friendly and warm and took place in an excellent atmosphere,” a PMO official said.

No public statements were made during a brief photo op.

Netanyahu was also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Argentina’s new President Mauricio Macri and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. He will also conduct a public interview, on the forum’s main stage, with senior CNN correspondent Fareed Zakaria.

“The Prime Minister will present the opportunities the State of Israel is offering to multi-national companies and emphasize the technological leadership of the Israeli high-tech industry in order to expand cooperation between these companies and Israeli companies and encourage investment and acquisitions in Israel,” his office said.

Netanyahu is also expected to hold “a unique meeting with global cyber industry senior figures and managing directors on advancing cyber defense,” the statement continued.

On Wednesday, the prime minister met with UBER co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick and the head of Hewlett Packard, Meg Whitman.

Netanyahu was initially slated to be joined in Switzerland by former president Shimon Peres, but doctors advised Peres, 92, to skip the trip after he suffered a mild heart attack last week.


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