New Zealand Reaches Out To Restore Ties With Israel
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Recently appointed New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Gerry Brownlee contacted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an effort to restore diplomatic relations with Israel.
Brownlee received his ministerial warrant on Tuesday, Israel’s Independence Day, and hours later wrote to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to get the relationship back on track.
“I’ve sent a letter to Mr. Netanyahu yesterday firstly congratulating them on their national day but expressing a desire for the Israeli-New Zealand relationship to get back on track and to do that by recognizing that we’ve got synergies and innovation and agriculture and various other things like that,” he told local media.
Brownlee confirmed there is further work to be done but remains resolute around the importance of restoring the relationship to its prior strength.
Israel in December withdrew its ambassador from New Zealand and postponed travel rights of New Zealand’s ambassador to Israel, based in Turkey, after New Zealand co-sponsored a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
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