Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meets Israeli President Isaac Herzog on the sidelines of the COP27 UN climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh.

In their meeting, the two leaders discussed deepening the friendship between the United Kingdom and Israel, joint economic climate ventures, and security challenges, chiefly the Iranian nuclear project. 

Mr Herzog congratulated Mr Sunak on becoming Prime Minister last month, and said: “I want to welcome Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Great Britain. Mr Sunak is a great friend of Israel, and the United Kingdom and Israel have an incredible relationship, which has developed throughout the years, and I think it’s one of the closest.

“We have so much to speak about from climate change to economic development and cooperation, security challenges, and of course maintaining regional stability. 

“Thank you very much for taking the time. We know you’re very busy, you have huge challenges. We wish you great success, Prime Minister.”

Mr Sunak thanked Mr Herzog for the “very warm words,” and said the time spent together is “a great pleasure”.

Mr Sunak said: “As you’ve said, I’ll echo everything you said - Israel is one of our closest friends, our closest allies, and there is an enormous amount for us to continue working on together.

“Whether it’s economic cooperation, security cooperation, or indeed climate change, that we’re here discussing. So, I look forward to our time together. We should get to work.”