PM Netanyahu with German FM Sigmar Gabriel
PM Netanyahu with German FM Sigmar GabrielKobi Gideon, GPO

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday morning met with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel to discuss security issues and bilateral relations between the countries.

Netanyahu serves both as Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.

"It's always an important opportunity to speak to members of the German government," Netanyahu said. "I just did this in Davos; I had an excellent conversation with Angela Merkel."

"We discussed the region and our bilateral relations, which are strong. I appreciate Germany's commitment to Israel's security.

"We discussed the efforts to stabilize the region, efforts made more difficult by Iran's aggression in Syria and in Lebanon. We talked about our common quest for peace, and about resuming some kind of peace process with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu welcomed the minister, saying: "I want to thank you for Germany's commitment to Israel's security which you repeated in our conversation, and welcome you to Jerusalem."

Last week, Netanyahu told Merkel that in his opinion, "the only existing option is to put in real changes to [the agreement] to prevent Iran from going nuclear, a development which is assured by the deal as it stands. "

"It was an important meeting because we discussed the nuclear deal with Iran.