Israel will soon have an official diplomatic mission at the headquarters of the Western defense organization NATO in Brussels, Belgium.
"The North Atlantic Council agreed to accept the request that an official Israeli Mission be established at NATO headquarters.The Ambassador of Israel to Belgium will therefore be the Head of the Mission of Israel to NATO. Israel is a very active partner of the Alliance as a member of NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue, established in December 1994. NATO has invited all partners to open diplomatic missions to the Headquarters of the Atlantic Alliance in Brussels," NATO announced on its website.
Israel is a partner in the Mediterranean Dialogue along with six other countries: Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan, Mauritania and Morocco. The move represents a significant upgrade for Israel's ties to the 28-member defense bloc.
“This is something we worked on for many years,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, adding: "I think this is important to Israel’s standing in the world.The countries of the world want to cooperate with us because of our determined struggle against terrorism, because of our technological knowledge, our intelligence deployment and other reasons."
The invitation for Israel to open offices at NATO in Brussels reportedly came after Turkey lifted its veto on Israeli activity at NATO. Israel is not a member of NATO. All member countries must agree to work with a non-member affiliate.
