Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday met with Romania’s Marcel Ciolacu in Jerusalem.
Mr. Ciolacu was accompanied on the visit by a number of officials, including Defense Minister Angel Tîlvar.
“Mr. Prime Minister, first and foremost, we wanted to show you that friends show their solidarity in practice,” Ciolacu told Netanyahu following a closed-door meeting.
“We condemn what has happened in Israel and also the terrorist organization Hamas,” Ciolacu said, noting that the “Romanian parliament was the first parliament in Europe to have, with both chambers, a commonly agreed statement in support of the State of Israel.”
“The quest for peace in the Middle East is something we share,” Netanyahu responded, adding that “such peace will only be possible if this caliphate, this Daesh [ISIS] Caliphate, is destroyed. Nobody can make peace with Daesh, nobody can make peace with Al-Qaeda and nobody could make peace with the Nazis.”
Ciolacu was joined by Romania’s Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr, Foreign Minister Luminița Odobescu, Jewish Parliament member Silviu Vexler and Ambassador to Israel Radu Ioanid.
Ciolacu is the first world leader to visit Israel since the start of the war with Hamas, which began when the Gaza-based terror group carried out a cross-border assault, killing at least 1,300 people, mainly civilians.
Terrorists also kidnapped at least 200 more, many of them babies, children and the elderly.
ממריאים ביחד עם ראש ממשלת רומניה @CiolacuMarcel שר ההגנה @angeltilvar ושרת החוץ @Odobes1Luminita שבאים לביקור סולידריות עם ישראל.תכף נוחתים! 🇷🇴❤️🇮🇱
תודה רומניה!!!#ReleaseTheHostages pic.twitter.com/SnmY8ZTxvQ— 🇮🇱 Reuven Azar (@ReuvenAzar) October 17, 2023
Netanyahu also met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
