Israeli prime minister is to first visit California, where he will meet with Elon Musk, ahead of UN General Assembly.
By Ben Rappaport, United with Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu departed early Monday morning for a diplomatic visit to the US.
Ahead of his departure, he noted that he plans during his trip to meet with a host of figures including US President Biden, German Chancellor Scholz, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, and Turkish President Erdogan – as well as billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.
“I am now leaving for the UN General Assembly where I will represent Israel before the nations of the world. I will also meet with many world leaders, especially President Biden, with whom I will discuss – first and foremost, but among other topics – Iran and expanding the circle of peace. I will also meet with the German Chancellor, the President of Ukraine, the President of Turkey, and many additional leaders from Asia, Europe and Africa.
“I must say that it is moving to see the many requests for meetings. Unfortunately, I cannot meet with all the leaders who made requests but I hope to meet with most of them,” he said.
Addressing the Iranian threat, Netanyahu said, “Today, the world is seeing – and I will certainly emphasize this – that Iran is violating all of its commitments, that it brazenly lies, and that it intends both to develop nuclear weapons and continue its aggression in the region. We will confront both of these together. I heard the threats from an official of the Iranian regime today; I suggest that he not threaten us. He and this regime need to know that we will respond forcefully to any attack on our people and our citizens.”
“I will start this visit in California where I intend to meet the current leader of the most dramatic development in the new age and perhaps in general, Elon Musk,” Netanyahu added. “I will discuss artificial intelligence with him and I will also work toward encouraging him to invest in Israel in the coming years.
Netanyahu said that Musk “is, to a large degree, paving the way that will change the face of humanity and also the face of the State of Israel. Israel needs to be a leader in artificial intelligence. Just as we turned it into a leader in cyber, so we will do in this field as well.”