Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told visiting Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel González Sanz on Thursday that the reason for the failure to achieve peace in the conflict with the Palestinian Authority remains the PA’s refusal to accept the existence of the state of the Jewish people no matter what the border.
Netanyahu called on Costa Rica to change its voting pattern at the United Nations and in international organizations on issues related to Israel.
González said his country would reconsider its voting pattern.
He noted that his country is interested in strengthening its relations with Israel. The two discussed expanding bilateral cooperation in tourism, public security, water and agriculture.
Gonzalez also visited the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, Israel’s leading non-profit, non-political, non-governmental organization focused on developing and implementing innovative and cutting-edge peacebuilding programs in Innovation, Peace Education, Medicine, Business, and Environment, reaching tens of thousands of participants over the last 20 years.
At the Center, program participants come from a diverse and multi-faceted spectrum, including: Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians; old and young; women, men, children and youth; professionals and agents of change. By focusing on common interests, the Peres Center continues to successfully forge lasting partnerships – barriers are broken down, fears are overcome, dialogues are conducted, and friendships are formed, paving the way to a real and lasting peace between peoples.
The Peres Center for Peace was founded in 1996 by the late Ninth President of Israel and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Shimon Peres.
The Peres visit to Costa Rica in May 1997 served to increase ties between the two nations. Peres said that “both Costa Rica and Israel can work together because no matter how far we are geographically, what matters is how close we are conceptually to see how we can help us to face the dangers of our times and seize opportunities.”
