'Militant Islam' must be defeated: Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today said the forces of "militant Islam" must be defeated to ensure safety and security of the US and Israel.
"For the security of both Israel and the US, we must ensure that the forces of militant Islam are defeated," he said in his teleconference address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference.
"We won't let them drag humanity away from the promise of a bright future, to the misery of a dark past," he added.
Addressing several thousand participants to the annual conference, he exuded confidence that the US and Israel will stand together shoulder to shoulder to ensure that light triumphs over darkness and hope triumphs over despair.

"That means preventing Iran from ever developing nuclear weapons. That is our policy. It will always be our policy. Our partnership means also confronting Iran's aggression in the region and its terrorism around the world. It means utterly vanquishing ISIS," he said.
This means building alliances with moderates in the region, those moderates who seek to build a better future and embrace modernity and peace, he said.

Netanyahu said Israel is committed to working with US President Donald Trump to advance peace with the Palestinians and with all its neighbors.
"I believe that the common dangers faced by Israel and many of our Arab neighbors now offer a rare opportunity to build bridges towards a better future, a future more prosperous, more secure, more peaceful," he said.

"To achieve that future, Israel will stand ever vigilant, never compromising on our security, always ready to defend ourselves. We'll defend ourselves not only on the physical battlefield, but also on the moral battlefield. We'll defend ourselves against slander and boycotts," he said.
"We will speak clearly against anti-Semitism from any quarter. We will call on our friends in America and around the world to demand that Hamas free Israeli hostages and enable the Goldin and Shaul families to bury their fallen sons," Netanyahu added.