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🇮🇱 Israel /Disasters & Emergencies

Israel dispatches humanitarian mission to Venezuela despite frozen relations

From Jerusalem Post · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Israel dispatched an aid delegation to Venezuela, a country with which it has no diplomatic relations, following severe earthquakes.
  • The delegation includes Foreign Ministry professionals and IDF engineering experts, led by Ambassador Yoed Magen, who will assess damaged buildings.
  • The mission highlights Israel's commitment to providing assistance during natural disasters, utilizing unconventional channels due to the lack of formal ties.

An Israeli aid delegation is en route to Venezuela, a nation with which Israel has severed diplomatic ties for 17 years. The mission comes in response to two devastating earthquakes that struck the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, causing widespread building collapses and leaving thousands injured and homeless.

One of the things that most characterizes the State of Israel is that when natural disasters occur, as well as other disasters, Israel is among the first countries that wants to provide assistance.

— Yoed MagenAmbassador Yoed Magen explaining Israel's response to natural disasters.

The delegation comprises professionals from the Foreign Ministry and the IDF, including engineering experts from the Home Front Command. Ambassador Yoed Magen, who has extensive experience with Venezuela and Latin America, is leading the Foreign Ministry contingent. He described the intricate process of establishing a coordination mechanism with a country where Israel has no embassy.

When there are floods, earthquakes, or any other disaster in the world, this comes naturally to the Israeli system. The immediate thought is: How can we help? This is already built into the DNA of the Foreign Ministry and other parts of the Israeli system.

— Yoed MagenAmbassador Yoed Magen describing Israel's ingrained response to global disasters.

Magen explained that the mission's focus is on assessing damaged buildings. He emphasized Israel's natural inclination to provide assistance during natural disasters, a response deeply ingrained in the Foreign Ministry's and other Israeli systems' DNA. "When there are floods, earthquakes, or any other disaster in the world, this comes naturally to the Israeli system," Magen stated.

We do not have ordinary official contacts with officials in Venezuela, but since I deal with Venezuela-related issues, I worked through various channels to reach the right people and offer our assistance.

— Yoed MagenAmbassador Yoed Magen on how Israel established contact with Venezuela.

Despite the absence of diplomatic relations, senior figures in both the Israeli and Venezuelan governments have been involved in facilitating the mission. Magen has been in contact with senior Venezuelan officials through various channels to offer assistance. He characterized the aid as "first-rate humanitarian assistance," noting that the decision to launch the mission was an almost instinctive response to the dire images emerging from Venezuela.

There are no diplomatic relations, but this is first-rate humanitarian assistance.

— Yoed MagenAmbassador Yoed Magen describing the nature of the aid mission to Venezuela.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Jerusalem Post. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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