Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the AIPAC conference in Washington, DC via a satellite feed from Jerusalem on Monday. Photo: Screenshot.

Israel and the United States will “stand together, shoulder to shoulder, to ensure that light triumphs over darkness and hope triumphs over despair,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.

Addressing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual policy conference in Washington, DC via satellite feed, Netanyahu stated, “Israel has no greater friend than America and America has no greater friend than Israel. For the security of both Israel and the United States, we must ensure that the forces of militant Islam are defeated. We won’t let them drag humanity away from the promise of a bright future to the misery of a dark past.”

“That means,” he continued, “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,” Netanyahu went on to say. “It means utterly vanquishing ISIS, not partly.”

Furthermore, Netanyahu noted, this entails “building alliances with moderates in the region, those moderates who seek to build a better future and embrace modernity and peace.”

In the ongoing global battle between modernity and medievalism, Netanyahu said, “more and more countries in the region, and outside the region around the world, realize that Israel is on their side.”

“I’m proud of the unique contribution Israel is making to the world — a contribution to humanity that vastly exceeds our size,” the prime minister declared.

Netanyahu described his White House meeting with President Donald Trump last month as having been “exceptionally warm.”

“I want to thank the president for his strong support for Israel,” Netanyahu said. “I want to thank Vice President [Mike] Pence for his warm words for Israel last night. The administration has shown its commitment to Israel by turning those words into policies.”

“Israel’s hand, and my hand, is extended to all our neighbors in peace,” Netanyahu stated. “We teach peace to our children and it’s time the Palestinian Authority do the same. It must stop teaching hatred to its children. It must stop paying terrorists. It must stop denying our legitimacy and our history. It must, above all, once and for all, recognize the Jewish state.”

“Israel is committed to working with President Trump to advance peace with the Palestinians and with all our neighbors,” he continued. “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 and more peaceful. And to achieve that, 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.”

Watch Netanyahu’s remarks below: