The Government extends its strategic partnership with Israel

On Wednesday November 26th 2014, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, together with other members of the Cabinet and representatives of the Czech business community, completed a three-day working visit to the State of Israel. During the Czech-Israeli inter-governmental consultations in Jerusalem, 10 memoranda and agreements extending cooperation between the two countries were signed in Jerusalem. The Prime Minister met with the Israeli Prime Minister and with the President. He also paid tribute to the victims of the Holocaust at the Yad Vashem memorial.

Together with Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, the Czech-Israeli inter-governmental consultations were also attended by Deputy Prime Minister for Science, Research and Innovation, Pavel Bělobrádek, Minister of Defence, Martin Stropnický, Minister of Industry and Trade, Jan Mládek, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Michaela Marksová, Minister of Agriculture, Marian Jurečka, Minister of Health, Svatopluk Němeček and Minister of Culture, Daniel Herman.

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sign a memorandum on 25 November 2014.

The memoranda and agreements concluded will expand cooperation between the two countries in a number of important areas, particularly in research and development, medicine, policies focusing on the elderly, film co-production, the defence industry, cyber security and the preservation of historical memory in the context of the Holocaust and World War II.
Prime Minister Sobotka and selected ministers were also informed of the results of meetings between an accompanying business delegation composed of the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic and the Czech-Israeli Chamber of Commerce.
The next, now fourth, Czech-Israeli inter-governmental consultations will take place in the Czech Republic in 2015 or 2016.

Working visit of the Czech Prime Minister to Israel – day by day

1^st day:

On Tuesday 25th November 2014, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka met his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. The topic of the talks was the further development of the traditional partnership existing between the two countries and the Middle East peace process.
Czech-Israeli inter-governmental consultations then took place during the course of the morning.

Prime Minister Sobotka and his ministers paid their respects to the Holocaust victims at Yad Vashem on 25 November 2014.

In the afternoon, the prime minister laid flowers at the Yad Vashem memorial to the Holocaust victims. He then met with the delegation of Czech businessmen and in the evening with the Israeli Minister for Science and Technology, Yaakov Peri.

2^nd day:

Prime Minister Sobotka met with Israeli President Rivlin on November 26th, 2014.

In the morning of Wednesday 26th November, Prime Minister Sobotka and the Czech ministers met for talks with the President of Israel, Reuven Rivlin. They mainly discussed the results of the inter-governmental consultations and the situation in the Middle East region.

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and a number of ministers visited the Masada fortification on 26nd November 2014.

The Prime Minister and some of the ministers visited the Masada fortress before their flight home.