From 7 to 9 March 2022, the Chief of the National Guard, Lieutenant General Demokritos Zervakis, accompanied by a delegation of officers of the General Staff of the National Guard, made an official visit to Israel, at the invitation of his counterpart, Chief of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Lieutenant General Aviv Kohavi, and was received by the Minister of Defense Mr. During the visit, the importance of the bilateral defence cooperation programme between Cyprus and Israel was reaffirmed, which is part of the wider network of international cooperation that the AF has developed with the Armed Forces (AF) of friendly and allied countries.
During the visit, the importance of the bilateral defence cooperation programme between Cyprus and Israel was reaffirmed. At the same time, regional developments in the wider Eastern Mediterranean region were discussed, as well as the corresponding international developments in relation to the crisis in Ukraine. They also exchanged views on other issues of common interest, as well as ways of upgrading and expanding cooperation between the EDs of the two countries at bilateral, trilateral and multilateral levels.
In particular, on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, the Chief of the AF was officially received by his counterpart at the IDF General Staff Headquarters, where the two Chiefs initially held a private meeting and then held mutual briefings on the strategic-level security challenges of the AF and the IDF.
During the meeting of the two Chiefs, the values and principled positions which provide a firm and lasting basis for the highly upgraded multifaceted relations between the two countries were initially formulated. Subsequently, views were exchanged on international security challenges and the consolidation of security and stability in the region. They also recorded the common intention to implement and further deepen in other areas of common interest, in the framework of the Cyprus-Israel bilateral military cooperation programme, the corresponding trilateral programme with Greece, as well as other possible multilateral cooperation schemes with countries sharing the same principled positions with regard to respect for international law.
Alongside the meeting of the two Chiefs, in a separate ceremony, representatives of the General Staff and the IDF signed the Bilateral Defence Cooperation Programme for the year 2022, with actions both on the territory of Cyprus and Israel.
Subsequently, the Chief of the IDF had a meeting with the Minister of Defence of Israel, Mr. Benny Gantz, during which the developments in the region were discussed and a review of the defence cooperation between the two countries at the strategic level was held.
Afterwards, the Cypriot delegation visited the Yad Vashem Memorial, where the Chief of the IDF laid a wreath, paying tribute to the victims of the Holocaust.
The Cypriot delegation visited the Yad Vashem Memorial, where the Chief of the IDF laid a wreath, paying tribute to the victims of the Holocaust. He also presented the museum with a commemorative plaque and an album of photographs depicting the period 1946-1949, during which Jewish refugees were detained in concentration camps in Cyprus.
On the same day, the Cypriot delegation visited the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Church of the Resurrection, where Lieutenant General Zervakis had a private meeting with the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III. The Patriarch, after greeting the Cypriot delegation, blessed the AF personnel through them, wishing that vindication would come to Cyprus. He also addressed a greeting to Archbishop Chrysostomos II, as well as thanks to the people of Cyprus who have long maintained close relations with Jerusalem.
On Wednesday, 8 March 2022, the Cypriot delegation visited IDF Air Defence Units, where it was briefed on the mission, actions and capabilities of their weapon systems, as well as the Northern Command area of responsibility, where it was briefed on the ground on the situation and security challenges.
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