Israel can help Belarus normalise its relations with Europe and the United States, said President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on 4 June as he met with Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel Avigdor Lieberman in Minsk.

‘Israel is not an alien country to Belarus as thousands of our countrymen live there. We are not indifferent about the lives of those people. Every man in our country knows it, and everyone who once left Belarus for Israel knows that too. Immigrants from Belarus, our Jews, are special people. They constitute a gentle moral fibre in our relationship, which has left its mark on our entire relationship,’ said Alexander Lukashenko to Mr Avigdor Lieberman.

Alexander Lukashenko has pointed out that Belarus closely followed the recent election for the Knesset in Israel. ‘You know our attitude to you and your party. We were supporting you, and I am very glad things have turned out the way you wanted them to,’ said the Belarusian President. The President has highlighted the need for the two countries to take advantage of the opportunities that this time offers in order to advance the bilateral relationship.

Mr Avigdor Lieberman said that Israel rated highly the intensification of its relationship with Belarus and said that time had come for the two states to beef up the economic component of their bilateral relations. He also thanked Belarus for reconstructing the memorial commemorating those who died in the Minsk ghetto during WWII. ‘It is very important for us to preserve the historical truth of World War II. It is impossible to rewrite history endlessly or deny the fact of holocaust,’ he said.

In 2008, the Belarus-Israel trade amounted to $68.2 million ($5.7 million worth of exports and $62.5 of imports). In January-April 2009, the trade was $18.5 million ($1.9 worth of exports, $16.6 of imports).

The bulk of Belarusian exports to Israel are diamonds, condensed milk and cream, oil products, moulding forms, ice cream, cooked or tinned fish, caviar, chocolate and lingerie. Israel’s main exports to Belarus are pharmaceuticals and medical preparations, food, fruit and juices, insecticides and herbicides.

This year there are plans to hold the first session of the Belarus-Israel joint trade and economic cooperation committee. The recent period in the bilateral relations has been marked by an upward trend in Israeli investment in the Belarusian economy. In 2008, a total of $11.6 million worth of investment came to Belarus from Israel, an all-time record in the history of the bilateral relationship.

Fishman Group, Israel’s investment company, is now considering its participation in the infrastructure development project for the Belarusian High-Tech Park. In addition, the Belarusian side is now working on attracting investments from other Israeli companies, BSG (real estate construction), Merhav (agricultural development) and IDB (investments in the banking sector).