By Panayiotis Tsangaris 
Twitter: @tsangarisp

(Συνέντευξη στα Ελληνικά εδώ)

Business, Startups, Education - Culture, Tourism, and Energy as well as Cooperation for Emergency Situations are the areas in which the Israeli Embassy in Nicosia emphasizes as its key role for the relations between Israel and Cyprus. 

Mr. Shmuel (Sammy) Revel emphasized in an exclusive interview to Brief, while visiting the Digital Tree offices, the severity of the situation existing at the moment in the Middle East, stressing that Iran is considered as an inevitable future threat not only to Israel but also to Cyprus and the neighbouring nations.

In addition, he confidently stated that talks between the two countries regarding common holiday packages for tourists from China, USA and Russia will end with positive results. 

Full text of the Interview follows:

Which are the main topics that the embassy is focused on? 

First of all, we have to say that the relations between the Cypriot people and the Israeli people are very strong and are getting even stronger.

The relations between the two peoples started in the 1940s when thousands of Jews were detained in British camps and many Cypriots helped them in many ways.

Later in the 1960s, when Cyprus gained its independence, the two countries established diplomatic relations but for many years the practical relationship, the real projects between Israel and Cyprus were not developed as we would like it to be.  This is the main job of the embassy today, to fill this relationship with content.

We are working towards strengthening even more the connections between the two governments, the Cypriot and Israeli heads of states, between the Ministers, but also the relationship between the business communities of Cyprus and Israel. Nowadays, there is a very fruitful co-operation between the Chambers of Commerce of the two countries which enables businessmen to communicate and have ‘B to B’ contacts.

It is also important to us, to be active on the cultural scene and have Israeli artists participating in cultural events in Cyprus, like for example a concert in Larnaca his summer, with Shlomi Saranga or the performance by Kibbutz Dance group in Limassol.  All these reinforce our cultural relations. But we are also working on our academic relations, as we believe we should bring the young generations of Israeli and Cyprus together. Students, young entrepreneurs, start-ups can work together to build a better future in this region.

How do you see the future of these relations between Cyprus and Israel?

As Greek philosopher Isocrates said ‘You will have a good future, if you build the present on solid foundations’- We have to work together in present time, in order to have a better future.  

What does this mean in concrete terms?  It means to work together on security issues, to come to each other’s aid in emergency situations, like in fire breakouts or medical cases. But we also have to build the economic relationship, especially today., In relation to the energy, we are very lucky to have found in Israel very significant reservoirs and also Cyprus has explorations that are very promising. We have also the Aphrodite/Ishai reservoir which is cross- border, between the economic zones of Israel and Cyprus.

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And? How things are moving? 

We should develop it together. We are having discussions with the Ministry of Energy constantly.

Are we on a final stage?

I sure hope so.  I believe it is to our common interest to develop energy projects in co-operation between us, but also with other partners in the region. That’s why a very important development now is the formation of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum based in Cairo. This is a forum that brings together for the first time Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian authority.  Already, Israel is building the infrastructure to export gas to Egypt and other countries in the region, but we should also find ways to export the gas to Europe.  

What about tourism? 

We have to work together in order to reinforce the relationship also in the field of tourism.  Already we had a significant growth in the number of the tourists’ flow – it has more or less tripled in the last three years.

This year, about 250.000 Israeli tourists visited Cyprus and tens of thousands Cypriots travelled to Israel. We believe that the potential is even bigger, especially if we work together on common tourist packages, as we are currently discussing with the Deputy Minister of Tourism.  We are also discussing on upgrading the tourism infrastructure and there are many Israeli investors expressing interest. If we do this together we will be able to attract bigger numbers of tourists also from around the world…

>>> Opinion by Sammy Revel: From an “alliance of the hearts” to a 3D heart <<<

Yes, the idea was for common packages for tourists from China, USA & Russia… Is it going to happen? 

The Cypriot deputy Minister of Tourism was in Israel few weeks ago and had discussion regarding this matter. It is in process. It is going to happen, definitely.  It makes sense in terms of the easy connections between Israel and Cyprus. It is really easy to fly from Cyprus to Israel and if a tourist is coming from far away, he can easily link his vacation to the other country.

Another very important topic to us is innovation, as it is tackling the real challenges we are facing; whether it is environmental challenges, water management or health issues.  For all these, innovation sets many opportunities for Israel and Cyprus to work together. This is why we are focusing so much on this.  We believe that by focusing on innovation we can bring together the young generation to work together and build a better future.

Let me ask about Netanyahu’s announcement for a plan to annex the Jordan valley?  Would you like to make a comment?

First of all, I want to stress the threats and security challenges that Israel is facing today. If you look at the map, the Jordan valley is very important for our security on the eastern border.

Why do we face so many security issues? Because unfortunately there is a very radical regime in Iran. The Iranian regime seeks to develop nuclear capabilities and long range missiles which constitute a global threat.

The regime in Tehran is also funding and supporting terrorist groups. Whether in Iraq, in Syria, in Lebanon or in Yemen, Iran supplies weapons and financial assistance to these groups. If we look at what’s happening today, we see Israel being attacked by missiles and killer drones from Syria. Iran supplies Hezbollah in Lebanon with upgraded terrorist infrastructures, including missiles, which constitutes for Israel a very big challenge and we have to do our outmost to secure our borders.  

This is not only a danger for Israel, but we believe it is a danger to Cyprus also, as well as to all countries of the region. Together with the international community, the United States and Europe, maximum pressure should be put on Iran.

>>> Opinion by Noga Caspi: “You Have 15 Seconds to Take Cover, Run!” - What would you do? <<<

Turkey though seems that it does not adopt your opinion, since Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted (after Netanyahu’s promise regarding Jordan valley) that Israel turns into a racist & apartheid regime...

Israel is the only democratic state in the Middle East and together with Cyprus we share the same democratic values Israel is the only country in the Middle East, where Jews, Arabs, Christians and Druze live in coexistence; everybody has the right to vote, can also be elected in the parliament and can even be a member of the Supreme Court of Israel. We are very proud of our country and of our democracy.