The State of Israel’s new ambassador in Nicosia Shuli Davidovich on Tuesday presented her credentials to the Republic of Cyprus’ chief of state protocol Helena Mina, formally taking up her duties as ambassador.
She posted a video of herself affixing a pin badge featuring the flags of Israel and Cyprus to the lapel of her jacket, saying that “as of today, I will proudly wear this pin featuring the flags of Israel and Cyprus, a symbol of the friendship and close ties between our two countries”.
“I look forward to assuming my duties as the new ambassador of Israel to Cyprus and working to further strengthen our partnership, deepen our cooperation, and bring our two peoples even closer together,” she said.
Davidovich had previously worked as the Israeli foreign ministry’s coordinator for hostages and missing persons from attacks carried out by paramilitary group Hamas, saying in January that “every Israeli diplomat felt as if a hostage family was his own, and we are proud to say today that there are no more hostages in Gaza”.
Previously, she had worked as Israel’s ambassador in Bucharest, its deputy head of mission at its embassy to the European Union, and former Israeli president Reuven Rivlin’s senior foreign affairs advisor, as well as appearing in a number of spokesperson roles, including at the Israeli embassy in London.
While in London, she offered terse criticism for British newspaper the Guardian, saying that “for some people, especially on papers such as the Guardian, the human face of the Israeli doesn’t exist”, and that “it’s always the helmet, the rifle, the aggressor, the occupier”.
She had earlier said that she had formally complained “a number of times” to the Guardian about the newspaper’s coverage of the Middle East conflict, but that “unfortunately, the Guardian always has the same answer, that there is no fault in the way they cover [it]”.
Cypriot govt has offered Israel diplomatic allyship
The Cypriot government has offered diplomatic allyship to the State of Israel in recent months and years, with President Nikos Christodoulides having welcomed his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog to Nicosia last month, and Herzog describing him as a “great friend” upon his arrival in Cyprus’ capital.
That visit came with the Israeli government having been facing fierce criticism from elsewhere in the international community after publishing a tender for the construction of the “E1” settlement in August.
The planned “E1” settlement is an area of land between eastern Jerusalem and the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, which is located on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho, and from whence Bedouin tribes were expelled following the six-day war of 1967.
Were it to be built, there would be a continuous block of Israeli housing from Jerusalem to the River Jordan, effectively splitting the West Bank into two and making the existence of a contiguous Palestinian state impossible without forcing the displacement of Israelis.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the move will “bury the idea of a Palestinian state”, though with Israelis set to go to the polls for legislative elections on October 27, it was announced on Monday bids will not be considered until November 19 at the earliest.
The British government had last month described the “E1” tender as a “moral emergency” and said it would “ban imports of goods from illegal settlements and go after individuals and companies that support, facilitate or profit from illegal settlement activity”.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said of the issue that “the suffering of the Palestinian people is a scar on the conscience of the world”, and that “innocent Palestinians, including children, continue to be killed in Gaza, and there is still a humanitarian crisis, with far too little aid getting in”.
Herzog described the UK government’s move as “a grave miscalculation, a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation, and a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history”.
Cyprus one of nine member states to object to suspension of EU-Israel association agreement
Previously, the Cypriot government was one of nine member states which objected to the idea of the European Union suspending its association agreement with Israel when the matter was discussed by the bloc’s 27 foreign ministers in May, though Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said at the time that the objection was “procedural”.
“There was no question of a decision being taken by member states. On the contrary, the only competence which exists, which is of an exclusive nature, concerns [the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas], who ultimately took a decision, after first hearing the opinions and the views of the member states,” he said.
On Cyprus’ objections during those discussions, he said it had been raised “in terms of the procedure and the benefit which would arise from yesterday’s decision, given that at this particular time, we will take into account that any report which emerges will not be from EU personnel who are on the ground”.
He added that the reports received to inform the European Commission’s eventual decision at the end of the review “will have to pass through the college of commissioners and be adopted unanimously”, with all 27 commissioners, including Cypriot Costas Kadis and President Ursula von der Leyen required to vote in favour.
“Cyprus’ position is that we consider what is happening in terms of the humanitarian situation in Gaza to be tragic and unacceptable … There must be a change in Israel’s attitude and a large flow of aid on a large scale [into Gaza],” he said.