President Nikos Christodoulides, who paid a one-day visit to Jerusalem for the Cyprus-Greece-Israel summit on Monday, has met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog before meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyahu later in the day.

During their meeting, Herzog emphasised that Cyprus’ geopolitical position in the region was of crucial importance for the functionality of the region and “constitutes a bridge of peace”, highlighting that Israelis were “great admirers of Cyprus”.

He then went on to highlight that the bilateral relationship between Cyprus and Israel has strengthened within the last years, stressing that the prospects for further cooperation were great with both the Republic and Greece, as well as other countries in the region.

Christodoulides said he was looking forward to further agreements strengthening the strategic relationship between the countries during the summit.

Cyprus and Israel, he said, cooperated in several key areas of strategic interest, including defence, security, economy, energy and more.

He added that during the summer, more than 180 flights connected both countries, highlighting the aviation traffic as an indicator of the close relationship between Cyprus and Israel.

The president said that bringing the EU closer to the region was one of the Republic’s key aims during the upcoming EU Council Presidency, starting on January 1, emphasising that Cyprus had positioned itself clearly from the beginning of the outbreak of the October 2023 war, fully supporting the return of all hostages.

He then invited the Israeli president for a visit to Cyprus, an offer which Herzog immediately accepted.

Christodoulides arrived in Israel in the early afternoon and is set to hold a private meeting with Netanyahu following the talks with Herzog.

The two leaders will then meet with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis privately and take part in another meeting with delegations of all three countries. 

After the meeting, the three leaders will make statements to the media and attend a joint working dinner.