{"id":523663,"date":"2026-07-03T17:31:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T17:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/523663\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T17:31:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T17:31:12","slug":"venezuela-praises-israeli-aid-after-17-year-diplomatic-freeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/523663\/","title":{"rendered":"Venezuela praises Israeli aid after 17-year diplomatic freeze"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although many countries sent aid missions, Rodr\u00edguez chose to single out Israel\u2019s unique expertise. \u201cI 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,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez said at a press conference Thursday night.<\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez thanks Israeli aid delegation<\/p>\n

\"\u05e0\u05e9\u05d9\u05d0\u05ea<\/a>\"\u05e0\u05e9\u05d9\u05d0\u05ea<\/p>\n

Delcy Rodr\u00edguez <\/p>\n

(Photo: Lucas AGUAYO \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to thank Rabbi Cohen,\u201d she added, referring to Venezuela\u2019s Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Cohen, \u201cfor 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thank them for that,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez said. \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel and Venezuela have had no diplomatic relations since then-President Hugo Ch\u00e1vez cut ties in early 2009 over Operation Cast Lead, as part of the \u201canti-imperialist\u201d policy he pursued against the United States. Under that policy, Ch\u00e1vez also deepened ties with Iran. His successor, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, maintained a highly confrontational policy toward Israel.<\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez served as Maduro\u2019s 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\u2019s humanitarian response to the disaster.<\/p>\n

\"\u05de\u05e9\u05dc\u05d7\u05ea<\/a>\"\u05de\u05e9\u05dc\u05d7\u05ea<\/p>\n

Israeli aid delegation in Venezuela <\/p>\n

(Photo: IDF)<\/p>\n

\"\u05d4\u05e8\u05e0\u05df<\/a>\"\u05d4\u05e8\u05e0\u05df<\/p>\n

Security guard rescued from La Guaira rubble after eight days <\/p>\n

(Photo: Federico PARRA \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

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 Yv\u00e1n Gil spoke with the head of the Israeli aid mission, Yoed Magen, Israel\u2019s designated ambassador to Mexico, who also handles the Venezuela portfolio at the Foreign Ministry.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Israeli experts are working with their Venezuelan counterparts according to needs on the ground.<\/p>\n

The disaster struck Venezuela last Wednesday evening, overnight between Wednesday and Thursday Israel time, and is the country\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"\u05d5\u05e0\u05e6\u05d5\u05d0\u05dc\u05d4<\/a>\"\u05d5\u05e0\u05e6\u05d5\u05d0\u05dc\u05d4<\/p>\n

Destruction in Venezuela <\/p>\n

(Photo: Miguel MEDINA \/ POOL \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Entire buildings flattened: aerial footage shows vast destruction in La Guaira <\/p>\n

(Video: Reuters)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Yitzhak Cohen, Venezuela\u2019s 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\u2019s activity in the disaster-stricken country. He said he had worked to strengthen ties between the countries after the earthquakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe offered the president of Venezuela the possibility of having the Israeli delegation come to assist in the disaster,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cShe gladly accepted our assistance and gave all the necessary approvals for the delegation\u2019s arrival. This was the first step.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries, Israel took a wonderful step by providing humanitarian aid to Venezuela,\u201d he added. \u201cGovernment officials and the people received the delegation with love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope, and are almost certain, that this will move another step forward,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cThere is no doubt that this was a moving gesture.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although many countries sent aid missions, Rodr\u00edguez chose to single out Israel\u2019s unique expertise. \u201cI would like to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-523663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}