Athens News Agency: News in English, 06-02-16

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Israeli president expresses appreciation for tolerance, lack of anti-Semitism in Greece

[01] Israeli president expresses appreciation for tolerance, lack of anti-Semitism in Greece

Following his earlier and separate meetings with Greece's top political leadership, Katzav told reporters that "fighting anti-Semitism is important for us ... you cannot pass down values, human rights and morality to the next generations if at the same time you have anti-Semitic expressions in the media and on the streets."

Moreover, he cited the Jewish state's satisfaction with a decision, by Greece's Parliament a few years ago, declaring Jan. 27 as Holocaust Memorial Day.

"We must provide a historical lesson to the next generation that the Holocaust was an industrial massacre of an entire nation," he said, while again calling on international political and religious leaders to condemn anti-Semitism in all its forms.

Regarding a more-or-less bilateral issue, namely, recognition of new Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilus III by the Israeli government, Katzav confirmed that the issue was discussed during his talks with Greek President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias, although he deferred to ongoing litigation over the new Patriarch's election before the Israeli supreme court, an issue he termed as "complicated".

The Israeli president said he was confident a new Israeli government, following upcoming March elections, will resolve the issue, but only after a supreme court ruling, which he emphasised will be respected by Israeli authorities.

Along those lines, he termed the Orthodox Patriarchate's presence in the Holy Land as "ancient and influential", while adding that the status quo governing the Patriarchate -- revered by the Greek Orthodox faithful -- as well as long-standing commitments and "traditional approaches", should be maintained.

Katzav also answered a bevy of questions related to the recent election victory of militant Hamas in Palestine territories and Israel's position vis-?-vis a prospective Hamas government.

"If there is no change in its (Hamas) policy, then reality will not allow us to negotiate," he said, citing the group's insistence on not recognising Israel's right to exist.

Additionally, he said any peace agreement with the Palestinians will inevitably include an agreement on borders between the two states, thereby a security fence, as he called it, will be moved and shifted according to the agreement's provisions.

In terms of the ongoing international furor concerning the depiction of the Prophet Mohammed in a handful of cartoons published and reprinted in several European newspapers -- a development that caused acidic and often violent reactions in many predominately Muslim countries -- Katzav said that although he supports freedom of expression, "we should be sensitive to the feelings of groups, especially religious groups". Nevertheless, he cited his absolute condemnation of extremist and violence-mired demonstrations and protests in several countries.

Regarding Iran, where the Israeli president was, in fact, born, Katzav said a mix of totalitarianism, cooperation with international terrorists and nuclear weapons was a horrendous prospect for international and regional stability.

"Our concern is that someday a 'dirty bomb' will arrive in the hands of a terrorist," he said, directly criticising Tehran's uranium enrichment programme.

Finally, he expressed his satisfaction that both of Greece's major parties are interested in continuing to work for closer bilateral ties, stressing that whatever political differences arise between the two governments from time to time are devoid of misunderstanding.

On his part, Israeli ambassador to Athens Ram Aviram opened the press conference by noting that the official visit of the Israeli head of state concludes several years of warming relations, with balanced trade now at the 400-million-euro mark and five new bilateral agreements signed over the past year.

Caption: Israeli President Moshe Katzav (l) and Greek President Karolos Papoulias at the state dinner hosted by the latter Wednesday night in honour of his visiting Israeli counterpart. (ANA/V. Koutroumanos)

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