President of Georgia finishes his visit to Israel
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, October 22
“We know we cannot overcome violence with violence, we should overcome it with love, common goals and shared ideas,” the President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili, stated after meeting with his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin as part of his official visit to Israel from October 18-21.
The sides discussed the deepening of relations between the two countries, the importance of multi-century friendship between Georgia and Israel and the current ongoing economic cooperation between the states. It was pointed out that Georgia as a country having a geopolitical role of strengthening links between the West and the East has the opportunity to support this cooperation and deepen it.
“We are small nations which promote modern democracy. I am sure we will be able to overcome the challenges that face us and build a peaceful and secure environment in our region,” Margvelashvili said after the meeting.
The President of Georgia also met with the Chairman of the Knesset, Yuli-Yoel Edelstein.
According to Margvelashvili, both Georgia and Israel are building successful countries; both of them restored their statehood in the 20th century and continue to develop.
Moreover, the Knesset parliamentary delegation’s next visit to Georgia was discussed at the meeting, which is planned for November.
The President also met with the Opposition Leader, Isaac Herzog.
President Margvelashvili held a meeting with the Georgian-Jewish community and answered their questions.
He called upon Georgian-Jewish people to make investments in Georgia, and underlined the fact that Georgia is one of the leading countries for ease of doing business, as well as the low corruption rate, a liberal tax system and, therefore, good conditions for investments and business.
According to Margvelashvili, relations between Georgia and Israel must be deepened not only in the directions of economic and defence capability recovery, but also in the directions of education and culture.
He also condemned the frequent terroristic attacks in Israel and expressed his concern about the incidents.
Many important issues were discussed at the meeting of the Georgian President and the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The parties discussed the occupied territories, Russian-Georgian relations, global security issues, as well as the economic relationship and friendship between Georgian and Jewish people.
President Margvelashvili expressed his gratitude towards the Israeli PM for his active and unwavering support of the non-recognition policy of the occupied territories of Georgia.
The President of Georgia held his last meeting in Israel with students. He delivered a lecture at the IDC Herzliya Institute about the challenges of small countries in the world and answered the questions of the students.
