Gideon Sa'ar meets with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar meeting with European Parliamentary President — Photo: Israeli Foreign Ministry

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar met today (Thursday) with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to discuss Israel's concerns and issues and thank her for her support for the Jewish state.

Sa'ar's statement read:

"Good meeting with President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, a true friend of Israel. I described the situation of our hostages in Hamas captivity and our commitment to securing their release. I stressed the absurdity of the ICC's relentless pursuit of Israel and its leaders, which undermines international law.

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"I also spoke about what Europe (and the European Parliament) can do to help counter the advance of Iran in its nuclear program. I thanked President Metsola for her support for Israel since October 7th."

For her part, Metsola's statement on X addressed only the matter of the hostages and aid to the Palestinians:

"Thank you to the Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana & Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar for the open discussions in Jerusalem this morning. The immediate priority for the European Parliament is to ensure that all the hostages are released, that the ceasefire holds and humanitarian aid increases."

Foreign Minister Sa'ar has been working consistently to discuss the matter of the hostages, the ICC, and Iran with European leaders and leaders of European countries, including during direct visits to them.

Unlike Europe, Sa'ar has expressed consistent skepticism of the moderation of the rebels who toppled Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. He has repeatedly called them all Jihadists, noting that the country's leadership and security forces are all led by Jihadists rather than by reformists or minority representatives.

Sa'ar also openly supports the government's policy of keeping IDF forces on the Syrian side of the border "until the situation stabilizes" and likely until the end of this year, due to their distrust of the new leaders and their fear of terrorist groups taking advantage of the current situation to threaten Israel.