JERUSALEM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday announced his agreement with French President Emmanuel Macron to "launch a strategic dialogue between the two countries."

"I just finished a very interesting and fruitful meeting with my friend French President Emmanuel Macron," Netanyahu said in a televised statement. "This meeting covered many topics in the region including Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Libya."

"We agreed to establish a strategic dialogue between Israel and France that would continue cooperation between both countries on our common interests; this is a very important development in Israel's foreign policy and it can help us to achieve very important things for state security," he said.

Also, the Office of Israeli Prime Minister said in a written statement that Netanyahu called on Macron to put "pressure and sanctions that are being exerted on Iran following the steps taken by Tehran in the nuclear field and its aggressive actions in the region."

"Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke to President Macron about the situation in Lebanon as well as the project of producing precision rockets by Hezbollah, and they also discussed the events taking place in Libya," read the statement.

"The Prime Minister and President Macron decided to launch a strategic dialogue between the two countries in order to enhance cooperation between them and achieve their goals also regarding regional issues," it added.

Netanyahu welcomed the French president's request to join the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum which was recently established in Cairo.

Macron arrived in Israel on Tuesday evening to participate in the 5th World Holocaust Forum, scheduled for Thursday in West Jerusalem.

*Bassel Ibrahim contributed to this report from Ankara.