Bulgaria is an important country for Israel for a wide range of reasons – and the visit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an eihgt-strong Cabinet team is evidence of the intensity of bilateral relations, ambassador Noah Gal Gendler told The Sofia Echo on the eve of the visit.

"Since the Government headed by Prime Minister Boiko Borissov was established, in the past three years, President Georgi Purvanov has visited Israel, President Shimon Peres has visited Bulgaria, and now the Prime Minister of Israel is coming to Bulgaria with eight of his ministers, almost half of our Government," Gal Gendler says.

The last time an Israeli head of government visited Bulgaria was in 1991, when then-prime minister Yitzhak Shamir was here. The July 2011 visit is of an entirely different scale, of a government-to-government scale that Israel normally shares only with countries such as the United States, France, Italy and Germany; in relations with Jerusalem, it is a first for Bulgaria.

More evidence of excellent relations is in the significant number of ministerial visits, with Israel’s ministers of national infrastructure, social welfare, internal security and foreign affairs having been to Sofia and Bulgaria’s ministers of foreign affairs, social welfare, interior and agriculture having been to Israel.

The visit by Prime Minister Netanyahu – who has been to Bulgaria before as a deputy foreign minister and who continues to hold Bulgaria in high regard – will see important agreements signed: on military co-operation, research and development in the private sector and an amendment to the agreement on protection on private investments.

The military co-operation agreement will allow shared use of Bulgarian military facilities and air space for Israeli air force training exercises, to the benefit of both air forces.

Taken together, the three agreements will cover all necessary requirements for high-tech co-operation in civil and military areas.

"Because as you know from reading Start-Up Nation (Dan Senor and Saul Singer’s account of the reasons for Israel’s phenomenal economic performance) in Israel you cannot separate these things."

Further agreements are in the works, with negotiations ongoing, including on co-operation in communication technologies, a maritime agreement, an Open Sky aviation agreement, cinema co-production and a programme for co-operation in education, culture and science.

"It is important to say that now all issues related to our bilateral relations are on the table. We can talk about everything: co-operation in economic affairs, technology, culture, political, military and defence co-operation." He adds: "We see Bulgaria as a friendly country, even one that is a similar size to our own; we understand each other and so we can do a lot together".

There is a further strategically important element in bilateral relations.

"Bulgaria, for us, is not only a part of the European Union but also a gateway to the Balkans. Given that Israel does not have diplomatic representation in all of the countries of the Balkans, Bulgaria is able to assist us a great deal in relations with the countries of the region."

Economic matters
Israeli investments in Bulgaria, directly through Israeli companies or through Israeli-owned companies registered in other states in Europe, adds up to an estimated 1.5 billion euro.

"Mainly in real estate and construction – we have, in Bulgaria, more than 10 malls, logistics centres, business centres and thousands of apartments that either belong to or were built by Israelis. We are very satisfied with these numbers but at the same time, it’s not enough."

Plans are to extend the scope of activities, mainly in investment in the field of medical services and high-tech co-operation "but when I talk about high-tech I am not talking about producing modems or computers, I am talking about R and D – laboratories, making connections among companies in the US, in Israel and in Bulgaria".

Another significant development is in tourism: "We believe that in the year 2011 we shall have at least 150 000 tourists coming from Israel to Bulgaria. If we work properly, within three years we shall double this number".

With Israel’s finance minister participating in the visit, the country’s eagerness to share its experiences with Bulgaria will be borne out in talks with Bulgaria’s Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov.

Israel is negotiating with Greece and Cyprus about the development of a new natural gas system in the Middle East, Mediterranean and South Eastern Europe and "Bulgaria will definitely be part of this," Gal Gendler says.

Light and dark
Cultural co-operation is immense, of a scale not easy to summarise.

The embassy arranges and supports theatre shows in Bulgaria, classical and pop musical performances, recently supported the translation of six theatre plays into Bulgarian, the translation of Yitzhak Rabin’s memoirs; and is working on an anthology of poetry; takes part in cinema weeks and is involved in everything else from photographic exhibitions to puppet shows. "All in all, we support about 40 events a year and, of course, there are events done without us but we give support as asked."

On a people-to-people level, about 10 000 Bulgarians go to Israel each year, for reasons from tourism to business to medical treatment. Of Bulgaria’s estimated 6000 Jews, the rate of emigration to Israel is less than one per cent, about 30 to 40 a year.

The embassy, in dialogue with Bulgarian authorities, underlines concerns about rising anti-Semitism: "I’m not saying that it is a dangerous place for Jews; by far it’s one of the best places in Europe, if not the best, in regard to this question. But I can feel, and I can see, and the Jewish community too can see that it is on the rise and it is our task and the Bulgarian Government’s task to prevent it". The existence of a racist, anti-minority party such as Ataka is evidence of the problem.

In Israel, apart from the historical factor of the prevention of the deportation of Jews from Bulgarian territory during World War 2 to Hitler’s Nazi death camps, more recently there has been another reason for respect for Bulgaria; the firefighters sent to help fight the wildfires at Carmel. It was the talk of the streets, Gal Gendler says: "When you send people to fight fires, to face such risks, it is not to be taken for granted – people going to put at risk that they could sacrifice their lives, for other people 2000km away."

Ambition and optimism are the order of the day, from a bold plan based on an idea by President Peres, to bring together Israeli know-how, international money and Bulgarian resources to make this country the grain powerhouse of Europe, to the ambition to follow up the Netanyahu visit with an equivalent visit by Bulgaria in 2012.

"There is impressive co-operation between our two states and our two peoples," Gal Gendler says.