Jerusalem, 4 September, 2022 (TPS) — Israel hosted the first-ever Germany-Israel Strategic Dialogue on Thursday and Friday in Jerusalem, held between senior national security officials from the two countries.

The meeting was presided over by the national security advisors and directors-general of the foreign ministries of Germany and Israel. Also taking part were the Director-General of the Israeli Ministry of Defense Major General (ret.) Amir Eshel, the Director of the Mossad David Barnea, the Director of the Israeli Security Agency Ronen Bar, and their German counterparts.

This historic meeting took place following the agreement between the two nations’ leaders in Jerusalem in March 2022 to establish a framework for a strategic dialogue between Germany and Israel that will “take the two nations’ cooperation to new heights.”

The two sides “affirmed the unique nature and special character of their relations, and their commitment to continuing to advance these relations.”

The participants discussed a wide range of issues related to national security. The Israeli participants presented the danger posed, in Israel’s view, by a return to the nuclear agreement with Iran.

The two sides agreed to continue to hold this dialogue on a regular basis.

Also on Friday, Eshel met in Jerusalem with the State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry of Defense, Mr. Benedikt Zimmer, as part of “the intensifying defense dialogue” between the defense ministries of the two countries.

Head of the Directorate of Defense Research & Development (DDR&D) at the IMOD, Brigadier General (res.) Dr. Daniel Gold also participated in the meeting, where future collaborations in the fields of R&D and capabilities development were discussed.