The Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Honourable Sitiveni Rabuka hosted a farewell lunch for the non-resident Ambassador of Israel to Fiji, His Excellency Mr. Roi Rosenblit at the Grand Pacific Hotel today.
Ambassador Rosenblit concluded his week-long visit to Fiji after meeting senior government officials and Heads of Missions in Suva, discussing opportunities for cooperation in mutual interests particularly, in capacity-building and skills development trainings, in areas of agriculture, technology, business and investment, to name a few.
Prime Minister Rabuka said reciprocal diplomatic relations between the two countries, and possible locations of Fiji’s embassy in Israel were among issues they discussed over lunch.
“My personal feeling is that Jerusalem should be location of our new Fiji embassy, but I will have to sell this to our coalition partners.
“We already have our people living in Jerusalem, and most of us who have served in the Middle East who are now senior people both in government and outside government understand the security situation in Jerusalem.
“The question is whether this is serious enough to avoid Jerusalem altogether, or whether it is a risk worth taking.”
Prime Minister Rabuka added that his official visit to Israel was also raised at the luncheon with the senior Israeli diplomat.
“I will need to respond to the letter of invitation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhayu for an official visit to Israel. I will need to consider some dates, most probably I will do this after the budget session in July, because the climate there is ideal around that time.”
