President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, and Cyprus’ President, Nikos Christodoulides, affirmed their determination to further enhance relations as the Presidents of the two countries met in Jerusalem.

Welcoming President Christodoulides, who paid a visit to Israel on Thursday, Herzog said “the visit means a lot to Israel as it is under attack from Gaza. “We are extremely happy that you are here and you should know that the fact that you came here this morning when Israel is under attack from Gaza by our enemies who have no respect to human lives or the dignity of civilians, means a lot to us,” he added.

He described this as a “a demonstration of friendship and solidarity and support” and at the same time “shows the great relations and the closeness and the allegiance between our nations, which we want to strengthen and enhance”.

Herzog congratulated Christodoulides for his recent victory and election as the President of Cyprus, addingthat he feels a “certain emotional affinity” with Cyprus which he follows closely.

“With your great talents and the people, you brought with you I am sure you will advance your nation and I am sure we will be able to enhance and develop our relations even further”, he remarked.

On his part, President Christodoulides “clearly and strongly” condemned “the recent terrorist attacks”, noting that “Cyprus stands by your side and we will continue to work together to face this kind of unacceptable acts”.

He said “every time I return to Israel I feel like home. This is my first visit as President of the Republic of Cyprus two months after assuming my duties and this is a clear indication of the importance I attribute to our relationship”.

The Cypriot President said he looks “forward to our deliberations and to see how we can enhance even more our excellent bilateral relations in sectors like energy, defense, research and innovation, economy”.

President Christodoulides said “we have some very specific proposals to put forward to the Israeli Prime Minister”.

At the same time, he added, “regional developments are very important and Cyprus and Israel are two like minded countries, reliable, democratic countries in the Eastern Mediterranean and we need to coordinate our actions to tackle the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities”.

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