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Israel hails NATO decision to accept Israeli mission at Brussels HQ

Xinhua, May 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Israel welcomed on Wednesday an announcement from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) accepting Israeli mission in the headquarters of the organization in Brussels.

"This is a goal that we have worked on for many years," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday, according to a statement from his office.

Israel will accept NATO's invitation and open an office at the organization's headquarters soon, the Prime Minister said, adding that the move is an "important expression of Israel's standing in the world."

A statement from the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the move "comes after a long diplomatic effort by Israel."

On Tuesday, the NATO organization said it has agreed, after years of attempts by Israeli diplomats, to accept a request to open an Israeli mission at the Brussels headquarters. The mission will be headed by Israel's ambassador to Belgium.

An official in the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the move of opening Israeli offices in the NATO organization headquarters points to an upgrade in the ties between Israel and the military alliance, and is one step in the way of possibly having Israel accepted to the organization as a non-member state, and increase cooperation between Israel and the organization.

Israel had cooperated on various instances, mainly in military drills, with NATO, but does not have any standing in the organization.

Netanyahu told ministers from his Likud party in a closed meeting on Wednesday, shortly after the cabinet meeting, that the decision to allow Israel to open offices in NATO was received after Turkey removed its veto to the move, signaling a possible future reconciliation between Israel and Turkey, the Ha'aretz daily reported.

Turkey, a member of the organization, objected to increase cooperation with Israel after the Mavi Marara incident in 2010, in which nine Turkish nationals were killed in an Israel navy raid, as they were making their way to the Gaza Strip, under Israel's blockade.

The incident cut the formerly close ties between Israel and Turkey. However, nowadays delegates from both countries are working on normalizing relations between the countries and put the incident behind them. Another round of talks between officials from both countries is set for mid-May, the Ha'aretz daily reported. Endit