“Emergence of the vicious “Islamic State” is obviously nothing good; however, we must not think that only by defeating them we will be able to create peace and stability in the region”

Prior to holding events dedicated to 26 century-old relations between Israel and Georgia InterpressNews interviewed Ambassador of Israel to Georgia, Yuval Fux.

-- On 20-21 October, Georgia and Israel are once again celebrating the long history of Georgia-Israel relations by holding different events. How important do you do feel this date is and what kind of events do you plan to hold?

-- First of all, I want to express my gratitude to Georgia’s former Prime Minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who decided to celebrate this landmark day while paying an official visit to our country in summer 2013.

While elaborating an annual program, Israel’s Embassy to Georgia has always paid particularly great attention to the centuries-old history of Israel-Georgian relations as well as the prospects of their future relations. For instance, last year, we supported an arrangement of our art exhibition in Georgia’s National Museum. These exhibits have been kept in the museum thus far. A couple of weeks ago, we also participated in the conference which commemorated the history of the Hebrew nation and which was conducted at Tbilisi State University. This was a joint project by Tbilisi and the Bar Ilan University. In addition, we plan to hold different events dedicated to the centuries-old relations between Georgia and Israel in the future too.

However, this time, the Embassy of Israel is not involved in organizing the events in honor of the Israeli-Georgia friendship. A commission established specifically for this purpose is in charge of these events now. Although, I attended the meeting and introduced the members of the commission to my plans regarding the events that will presumably be held to celebrate this landmark day. The jubilee dedicated to the 26 century-old friendship between Georgia and Israel will be conducted as it is due -- on the one hand, festive reception ceremonies will be arranged for the representatives of the Government and, on the other, the events in which the representatives of both nations will be involved, will also be held.

As far as I am concerned, PM Gharibashvili has already extended an invitation to Immigrant Absorption Minister, Sofa Landver, who will pay a visit to Georgia soon. This Ministry actively works on the issues of the citizens that have reentered Israel and by straining to tackle their problems the body tries its best to integrate them into a new environment. Mrs. Landver will head Israel’s official delegation. She is expected to hold meetings with the Prime Minister as well as other official representatives of the Government. In addition, she will attend all official events that are scheduled to be conducted in Georgia. Within the already organized events, the members of Israel’s legislative body that will be led by Head of Israel-Georgia Friendship Group, Abraham Michael, will also visit Georgia. As far as I know, different cultural and sport events as well as concerts are also planned to be held in Georgia.

We have always actively focused on the centuries-old relations between the two nations and have always respected our mutual past. The history of Georgia-Israel relations, the history of the two countries that have remained friends through the vicissitudes of 26 centuries, is truly all-embracing and we must keep studying it under any circumstances; however, we must not deflect our gaze from the future too.

The jubilee dedicated to Georgia-Israel relations is celebrated in 2014 that is a paramount year for Hebrews. As the latest data shows, overall, 13.2 million Hebrews, out of which 6.5 are the citizens of Israel, live throughout the world. In the near future, the half of ethnic Jews will move to Israeli and will become permanent residents of the country. So many Jews have not converged on Israel, since the collapse of the Hebrew temple. This tendency will be maintained in the future too and the number of Jews in Israel will cumulatively increase, while their Diaspora throughout the world will substantially reduce.

Several decades ago, around 100 thousand Jews resided in Georgia, while today their number has decreased to 3-5 thousands. Precisely for this reason, I strongly hold that the relations between Georgia and Israel must be built on friendship and partnership. We must create a prolific platform to facilitate cooperation between the two nations. Precisely this is my prime objective – to build up even closer ties between the two countries.

Once again, I want to express my overarching gratitude to Mr. Ivanishvili, under whose initiation, we have organized the events dedicated to Israel-Georgia friendship. Their move to reopen the Museum of Israel is also of utmost importance for us as the museum will attract more tourists from Israel as well as other countries.

- Over the last years, a rather great deal of Jewish businessmen has visited Georgia. The Ministers of Georgia’s economic bloc have also paid a visit to Israel. Besides the commissions on broadening political relations between the two nations, a commission on contributing to the development of economic relations between the two countries has also been founded. Could you tell us, what kind of novelties do we have in this direction?

-- Our explicit aim has always been to share our experience with Georgia. This statement is applicable to science, economy, agriculture, tourism as well as other spheres.

This week a Jewish expert is expected to hold an innovative workshop of Georgia and Israel. Within the workshop, the meetings are planned to be held between the people involved in agriculture as well as in other spheres in Georgia and Israel.

Over the last 8 months, Israel has shipped production in the amount of 80 million USD to Georgia. Believe it or not, this figure exceeds the price of the produce that was exported to Georgia in the previous year. I do hope that in the end of 2014, the price of the imported goods from Israel to Georgia will hit $100 million. However, the price of Georgia’s exported goods to Israel is extremely low, around 2 million USD. Thus, we must put our heads together on this issue to come up with a solution to it and increase the amount of exported as well as imported merchandise. I think that Georgia is an attractive country for Jewish businessmen, and we will make redoubled efforts to broaden economic relations with Georgia in the future.

- As far as we know, a protocol on economic relations between Israel and Georgia has already been signed. However, the businessmen from Israel are a bit reluctant to execute business projects in Georgia. These projects are, as a rule, stretched in time. Can you tell us why this happens?

-- The already signed protocol says that the representatives of the two sides can get involved in cooperation in a number of spheres. After the agreement was negotiated, as many as 7 events organized by Israel’s Development International Agency, have been held. The Government’s move to establish visa-free travel between Georgia and Israel has also had its positive impact on the advancement of tourism.

I, as Israel’s Ambassador to Georgia, am obliged to quadruple efforts to increase the exported goods to Georgia from Israel; and I will also be immensely glad if the imported production to Israel from Georgia will also increase. By all odds, Georgia is interested in attracting investments. And we are trying our bests to assist Georgia in doing this. The Georgian side must convince the Jewish businessmen that they will only profit if they carry out different projects in Georgia. We are helping the Georgian authorities to interest our businessmen; however, we cannot make a final decision for them.

-- How would you assess the situation in the Middle East? This region has never been calm and peaceful but recently tensions have really heightened here. The current goings-on in Syria as well as Iraq, where radical Islamists are attempting to form an “Islamic State,” are a clear testimony to the aforementioned…

- Really, the Middle East has always been a black spot vulnerable to different dangers. And even today, the region is shared in two parts – the Islamist extremists stand on the one side, while the politically settled countries are on the other. The extremists have been actuated in Iran, Syria, and Iraq. Iran provides the terrorists with its backing and, at the same time, is trying to create a nuclear weapon. All these powers are seeking to destabilize the region. However, some countries determined to pursue the right policy, have also been left in the region. These countries – I mean Egypt and Jordan -- are actively searching for the ways to bring peace and stability there.

Despite the fact that the previous summer was far from being calm because of the events having unfolded in the southern regions of Israel as well as the Gaza sector, the resources for creating peace in the regions can still be found. And a key goal of these politically settled countries is precisely to retrieve these resources and defeat the extremists. The emergence of the vicious “Islamic State” is obviously nothing good; however, we must not think that only by defeating them we will be able to create peace and stability in the region. Other radical Islamists are not naturally better than these people. Thus, the civilized world must negotiate with new as well as the old challenges and must fight against all radical Islamists.

- The relations between Iran and the West have really picked up. And this will hypothetically inflict great harm on Russia. How big is a chance that against this backdrop, the relations between Israel and Iran will also improve?

- Iran is resolute in its decision not to recognize Israel as a state and, on top of that, it has always urged other countries to devastate Israel. In addition, Iran has supported terrorism. As you know, sanctions against Iran have been valid so far. The UN Security Council has failed to come to an agreement with Iran in relation to its nuclear program. Official Israel has always claimed that it’s better not to reach an agreement with Tehran than to reach a bad agreement.

If Iran succeeds in creating a nuclear weapon then other radical countries will have an opportunity to follow its lead. This will obviously pose lethal threats not only for the Middle East but also the entire world.

Israeli will not rebuild ties with Iran, until some radical changes occur in this country. The only novelty in our relations for now is that Iranian diplomats and the representatives of the Government are now talking with us politely, with a smile on their lips. Nothing substantial has changed in this direction so far though. To support this allegation, we can state that under a courteous and smiling Iranian leader, the number of the executed people has not decreased in the country.

Koba Bendeiani

InterPressNews