“Today, we host my counterpart, Amir Ohana, the Speaker of the Knesset – the Parliament of the State of Israel. Georgian and Jewish people are connected with a friendship that lasts for 26 centuries and these very firm links are that create a solid foundation for the development of the productive and multidimensional cooperation between Georgia and the State of Israel”, - the Chairman of the Parliament, H.E. Shalva Papuashvili stated to the media after the meeting with the Speaker of the Knesset, H.E. Amir Ohana.

According to him, the meeting was dedicated to the deliberation on bilateral cooperation in various spheres, including at the parliamentary level in the economic, tourism, cultural and security directions.

“We highly appreciate this visit and our intensive communication, especially against the current complicated, challenging geopolitical situation. We are grateful to the State of Israel for supporting our territorial integrity, sovereignty, and the non-recognition policy of our occupied regions. We are delighted with and welcome the recent increasing dynamics of high-level visits between our countries. The productive visits of the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Garibashvili and the Foreign Affairs Minister, Ilia Darchiashvili to Israel are particularly noteworthy. The visit of Mr. Ohana stands as a continuation of this positive dynamics and I truly believe, it will significantly contribute to further enhancement of the relations between our countries”, - Speaker Papuashvili stated.

As he highlighted, the links between the legislative bodies are firm and solid, including at the level of the Friendship Groups.

“The Friendship Group with the State of Israel has served a visit to Israel a month ago and held numerous productive meetings. We are committed to further bolstering our cooperation. We also cherish a hope to start the negotiations in 2024 concerning the conclusion of a free trade agreement, which will extend the capacities between our countries and in people-to-people relations. At the meeting, we dwelt on the regional security challenges. We wish stability and peace to Israel and a wider Near East region. I extend my gratitude to my colleague for visiting Georgia and for his commitment to further reinforce our cooperation and friendship”, - Speaker Papuashvili stated.

As the Speaker of the Knesset, A. Ohana underlined at the joint briefing, the cooperation is being further enhanced. According to him, the Friendship Groups also sustain intensive relations headed by Mr. Givi Mikanadze and Mr. David Bitan.

“This very collaboration, the activity of the Committees and the Friendship Groups, their contacts constitute the intact pillars and stand as effective instruments for the enhancement of the bilateral relations and links between our nations, upbringing our ties to a higher level”, - Speaker Ohana stated.

He underlined the consistent policy of Israel in supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia and thanked H.E. Papuashvili for his hospitality, hoping to have the honor to soon host Speaker Papuashvili in Israel.