Overview of the fourth consultation round of the government of Israel and the government of the Czech Republic in Jerusalem (G2G – 2016)
Post date: May 26, 2016 10:50:5 AM
Overview of the fourth consultation round of the government of Israel and the government of the Czech Republic in Jerusalem (G2G – 2016)
The consultation process between the governments of the Czech republic and Israel continue and the 4th consultation round took place in Jerusalem on May 22th, 2016 in the government to government (G2G) framework. This consultation round hosted both the Prime minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic , Bohuslav Sobotka. This meeting was executed as part of a series of similar meetings that have been taking place annually since 2012 in Israel and in the Czech Republic in rotation. In the previous meetings, the governments of Israel and the Czech Republic have signed several agreements for mutual cooperation in various fields such as: social and medical care, security, science and culture. It is important to note that the Czech Republic pioneered scientific collaboration with Israel and is the first country to appoint a Czech diplomat in Israel focusing on the cyber warfare field. In recent years, the Czech Republic has become known as one of Israel’s best allies in Europe and is well known for supporting Israel in various international forums.
This meeting reflected the ongoing and solid base of the multi-year cooperation between Israel and the Czech republic and expressed the mutual interests of both states in maintaining the strategic partnership between those two countries, as well as the depth and magnitude of the interstate dialogue which is routinely involves high ranking officials in both countries. Both Prime Ministers emphasized during this meeting the importance of the cooperation between Israel and the Czech republic and both stressed that the relationships between the two countries is based upon continuous connections of friendship and trust. They offered congratulations for the many new areas of cooperation between the countries, such as science and technology and expressed the mutual desire of both states in maintaining and expanding the current cooperation to new fields. In this round of consultations, 5 new agreements were signed concerning the following fields: cyber protection, tourism, international cooperation, a 3 year cooperation in science, culture and education as well as cooperation in the fields of technology, science and innovation.
According to the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, these agreements are meant to advance both countries as well as contribute to the close relationships between them. The Prime minister of Israel affirmed his colleague’s words by saying that these agreements advance both countries. He also stated that both Israel and the Czech republic benefit from the collaboration between them. The Prime minister of Israel encourages any cooperation between Israel and the Czech Republic and sees any initiative in this field as positive and blessed. He invited the Czech Republic to offer suggestion regarding the peace process between Israel and its neighboring counties and promised to receive them positively and gladly.
The meeting this week took place following an Israeli-Czech Republic seminar that hosted Prime Ministers from both countries as well as business people from Israel and the Czech Republic. This meeting took place following many similar meetings between high ranking officers in the Czech Republic and the President of Israel, Rubi Rivlin. The President of Israel hosted the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic in his house this week as a reply to his visit to the Czech Republic in October 2015. President Rivlin said in the meeting this week that the relationship between Israel and the Czech Republic reflects the depth of the existing connection between the two countries today as well as the need to expand this cooperation to other areas in the future. The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic said that Israel and the Czech Republic share a common history and values. He added that strengthening the connection with Israel is important to the Czech Republic since those connections reflect the long tradition of friendship between the two countries.
Another Czech officer who visited Israel was the Czech minister of foreign affairs and he was hosted by the President of Israel Rivlin in the Presidential home about a month ago. In their meeting, the Czech minister wished for further collaboration with Israel in the future involving areas such as transportation and medicine. He said that the Czech Republic is interested in joining Israeli projects mainly in areas such as energy, infrastructure, building and railways and also wishes to study the Israeli medical system and to conduct medical training courses for Czech doctors by Israelis doctors.