“Our relations are stronger than ever and we have the opportunities to strengthen them even more,” Israel’s ambassador to Greece, Noam Katz, said in his greeting to his guests on the occasion of the celebration of the 75th Independence Day of the State of Israel.
He noted that the relationship of friendship and good neighbourliness, against a background of historical contribution and the closeness of the two nations, is based “on common values and common interests” and “extends to regional cooperation and strategic cooperation.”
Today, he noted, “strategic cooperation is being built in politics, economy and defence,” and in the future it has great opportunities “in the fields of energy, technology, science, health, trade, tourism, culture”.
In the context of his references to bilateral issues, he spoke about Israeli investments in the tourism industry, which “exceeded 500 million euros.”
On his part, the Minister of National Defence Nikos Panagiotopoulos underlined that the strategic relationship that Greece and Israel have forged “aims at the peace and stability” of the Eastern Mediterranean region, “are pillars of stability” and “are based on the rules of international law, respect for sovereignty and sovereign rights, as well as the rules of good neighbourliness.”
Panagiotopoulos also referred to the trilateral relationship between Greece, Cyprus and Israel, which indicates the “common desire to work together for the benefit of our people and our region.”