Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the Israeli aid delegation to earthquake-stricken Venezuela, saying it is 'rebuilding relations' after 17 years of severed diplomatic ties, according to the Times of Israel. The mission marks the first official Israeli contact with Caracas since the rupture in 2009, following the fall of the Maduro regime.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday evening publicly hailed the Israeli aid delegation to Venezuela, stating that the mission is 'rebuilding relations' after a 17-year diplomatic freeze. The statement, reported by the Times of Israel, follows Netanyahu's conversation with the delegation's commander at 17:36 Jerusalem time, in which he told the team they are 'restoring the ruins and also the relations' — as The Zioneer reported earlier.
The public framing marks the latest escalation in the rapid diplomatic thaw between Israel and Venezuela. The Zioneer's thread on the delegation began Wednesday, July 8, at 10:01 Jerusalem, when reports emerged that Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez had met with Israeli search-and-rescue officials — a meeting first reported by Channel 12. Within hours, the delegation met with the president of Venezuela and presented a national rehabilitation plan that was approved. The mission was later extended by two weeks, and a second IDF delegation was dispatched.
The humanitarian mission was made possible by the changed political landscape in Caracas following the fall of Nicolás Maduro's regime earlier this year, as The Zioneer reported on June 30. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced the aid deployment on June 30, noting that Israel had no formal diplomatic ties with Venezuela since 2009 but that the new situation allowed for contact.
No timeline for the restoration of full diplomatic relations has been provided by the Prime Minister's office.
5 developments
- StrongFM Sa'ar announces Israel will send aid delegation to Venezuela despite no diplomatic ties
- StrongIsrael considers humanitarian aid mission to earthquake-stricken Venezuela
- StrongIsrael's envoy to Venezuela appeals to public in Spanish ahead of aid mission arrival
- DevelopingVenezuelan foreign minister issues rare welcome to Israeli delegation
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