Could Venezuela restore its ambassador to Israel after 17 years of severed relations? Interim President Delcy Rodríguez on Thursday became the first leader of the South American country since Hugo Chávez to publicly praise Israel, after an Israeli aid delegation arrived in Venezuela following the devastating earthquake disaster.
Although many countries sent aid missions, Rodríguez chose to single out Israel’s unique expertise. “I would like to report that yesterday we received a highly professional and skilled group from Israel, which arrived following contact made through the Jewish community in Venezuela,” Rodríguez said at a press conference Thursday night.
Rodríguez thanks Israeli aid delegation
“I would like to thank Rabbi Cohen,” she added, referring to Venezuela’s Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Cohen, “for all the coordination that allowed us to establish contact with the Israeli government and bring here, at this moment, a team of experts that has begun implementing the protocol for opening the infrastructure rehabilitation process and assessing the condition of the infrastructure.”
Most importantly, she said, the Israeli team has experts capable of determining whether people are still alive in a given location or whether bodies need to be recovered before any other reconstruction work can begin.
“I thank them for that,” Rodríguez said. “They have already held meetings with the authorities in Venezuela. This is a team with a very high level of training and professionalism, and I hope we can continue moving forward at this stage in the field of rehabilitation.”
Israel and Venezuela have had no diplomatic relations since then-President Hugo Chávez cut ties in early 2009 over Operation Cast Lead, as part of the “anti-imperialist” policy he pursued against the United States. Under that policy, Chávez also deepened ties with Iran. His successor, Nicolás Maduro, maintained a highly confrontational policy toward Israel.
Rodríguez served as Maduro’s vice president and is considered a product of the previous regime. But since being appointed interim president after Maduro was captured in a U.S. operation earlier this year, she has cooperated with Washington. Even then, the possibility of some warming in relations with Israel was raised, and it may now materialize following Israel’s humanitarian response to the disaster.
Israeli aid delegation in Venezuela
(Photo: IDF)
Security guard rescued from La Guaira rubble after eight days
(Photo: Federico PARRA / AFP)
The dispatch of the Israeli delegation has already created a kind of diplomatic breakthrough, including the first phone call in years between a senior Venezuelan official and a senior Israeli representative. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil spoke with the head of the Israeli aid mission, Yoed Magen, Israel’s designated ambassador to Mexico, who also handles the Venezuela portfolio at the Foreign Ministry.
The Israeli delegation arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday. The IDF delegation is led by Brig. Gen. Elad Edri, chief of staff of the Home Front Command. The mission includes 28 people, among them eight Home Front Command engineers and representatives of the Foreign Ministry. Additional experts from the Home Front Command and the National Emergency Management Authority are expected to join later.
The Israeli experts are working with their Venezuelan counterparts according to needs on the ground.
The disaster struck Venezuela last Wednesday evening, overnight between Wednesday and Thursday Israel time, and is the country’s worst in more than 100 years. Two powerful earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5, hit 40 seconds apart at a relatively shallow depth, causing large numbers of buildings to collapse on their occupants, both in Caracas and especially in La Guaira state, adjacent to the capital.
Destruction in Venezuela
(Photo: Miguel MEDINA / POOL / AFP)
Entire buildings flattened: aerial footage shows vast destruction in La Guaira
(Video: Reuters)
The official death toll currently stands at 2,295, but it is expected to rise. According to unofficial figures, more than 38,000 people are missing. After more than a week, the chances of rescuing survivors have dropped sharply, but on Thursday, eight days after the disaster, a 43-year-old man was pulled alive from the ruins of a collapsed building in La Guaira.
Rabbi Yitzhak Cohen, Venezuela’s chief rabbi, whose name has also been raised as a possible Venezuelan ambassador to Israel if relations are restored, spoke to ynet this week about the Israeli mission’s activity in the disaster-stricken country. He said he had worked to strengthen ties between the countries after the earthquakes.
“We offered the president of Venezuela the possibility of having the Israeli delegation come to assist in the disaster,” Cohen said. “She gladly accepted our assistance and gave all the necessary approvals for the delegation’s arrival. This was the first step.”
“Although there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries, Israel took a wonderful step by providing humanitarian aid to Venezuela,” he added. “Government officials and the people received the delegation with love.”
“We hope, and are almost certain, that this will move another step forward,” Cohen said. “There is no doubt that this was a moving gesture.”