Baird and Ya'alon
Baird and Ya'alonDiana Hananshvili, Defense Ministry's Office

Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon, met with Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird at his offices in Tel Aviv on Monday. 

At the meeting, the two ministers discussed strategic regional issues, the situation in the Middle East, and relations between Canada and Israel. 

"There is never a dull moment in our area," Ya'alon told his guest, before thanking him for his support. 

"I would like to thank you for the clear voice of Canada. A voice that represents Canada's policies as led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and which are based on values so necessary to these times. Both all over the world and especially in our neighborhood." 

Ya'alon then addressed Israel's greatest threats, which include not just terror and Hamas rockets, but the International Criminal Court. 

"An international body that is supposed to be moral is attacking us so hypocritically," Ya'alon stated. 

"We are fighting terrorism - terrorist organizations like Hamas that uses its own citizens as human shields to then attack our citizens. And now we're being attacked by hypocritical bodies such as The Hague." 

"We greatly appreciate the clear, moral voice of Canada and your commitment to that voice. This is the only way to fight Islamic State, Al Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah," Ya'alon explained. 

The Defense Minister then went on to discuss with Baird other major issues in the greater Middle East.

According to Ya'alon, Iran is the main case of instability in the region. "You can find Iran's fingerprints on any conflict in the Middle East. Iran is the biggest problem in the Middle East, and this axis is based essentially on Iran, [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad's regime, Hezbollah, and other players." 

"ISIS has branches all over the place," Ya'alon continued, moving on to another current problem in the region.

"There are several dozens of Israeli Arabs who went to fight in Syria as part of global jihad, and when they returned to Israel, we immediately arrested them. We prevented them from agitating or spreading their ideology." 

Responding to Ya'alon's anger over the ICC's hypocrisy, Baird said: "I think the Palestinian Authority has made a huge mistake [by joining the body] and crossed a red line."