 | |
 Israel |  Sri Lanka |
|---|---|
Israel–Sri Lanka relations refers to thebilateral relations betweenIsrael andSri Lanka.
Sri Lanka has an embassy inTel Aviv. The current Sri Lankan ambassador to Israel is M. H. M. N Bandara.[1] Israel formerly held an embassy in Sri Lanka, but today is represented in Sri Lanka by theEmbassy of Israel inNew Delhi,India.
Since its independence in 1948,Ceylon maintained limited ties with Israel compared to most of its neighbors, which refused to collaborate with or recognize Israel. UnderUNP Prime MinisterD. S. Senanayake, Ceylon began buying weapons from Israel, including theHMCyS Gajabahu.[2]
SLFP Prime MinistersS. W. R. D. Bandaranaike andSirimavo Bandaranaike were hostile to Israel in comparison, and preferred establishing closer relations with thePalestine Liberation Organization.[2] In 1971, as part of herelection campaign, Sirimavo Bandaranaike promised to close down the Israel embassy in Sri Lanka in support of the Palestinian cause. After Bandaranaike came to power, the Israel embassy was closed down despite several threats by lobbies in theUnited Kingdom to boycottSri Lankan tea.[3]
By the late 1970s, however,Lalith Athulathmudali andRavi Jayewardene believed that Sri Lanka should turn to Israel to combat theSri Lankan Tamil insurgents and the terrorism of theLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Sri Lankan PresidentJ.R. Jayewardene established diplomatic ties with Israel.Mossad advised the Sri Lankan government to accelerate the Mahaweli development project to solve the energy crisis while providing the best strategy to settleSinhalese farmers in the island’s dry zones as well as finding funding from international agencies for projects. In return, many contracts for designing and developing Mahaweli settlements went toSolel Boneh.
Diplomatic ties were suspended in 1992 under presidentRanasinghe Premadasa due to pressure from pro-PalestinianMuslim groups in Sri Lanka.[2][4] Relations were restored in 2000.[citation needed]
Israel was a key source of weapons and training for theSri Lanka Armed Forces during theSri Lankan Civil War against the LTTE. Israel sold weapons to the country, including theIAI Kfir fighter jet, theSuper Dvora Mk III-class patrol boat,Saar 4 classmissile boats and theGabriel missile.[5] Israel also tested weapons off the coast of Sri Lanka such as the cruise missilePopeye.[6]
In February 2020, Israel offered Sri Lanka technology in agriculture, education, transportation and IT sectors, which was openly welcomed by Sri Lankan PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa.[7] In September 2021, the Sri Lankan government signed an agreement with Israel to upgrade Israeli-made Kfir fighter jets of theSri Lanka Air Force.[8]
During theGaza war, theForeign Ministry expressed concern about the loss of life in both Israel andGaza.[9][10] UNP PresidentRanil Wickremesinghe denouncedHamas's aggression, stating thatcriticism of Israel is not a valid justification for Hamas's attack.[11] Sri Lanka and Israel also signed an agreement to allow Israel to immediately hire 10,000 farm workers from Sri Lanka to replace 20,000 Palestinian agricultural workers who were banned from Israel and 8,000 foreign workers that fled Israel due to the war.[12] In January 2024 the government of Sri Lanka also began talks with Israel to send an additional 20,000 Sri Lankans for jobs in the Israeli construction sector.[13]
Sri Lanka, a popular destination for Israeli tourists, especially reservists, saw a notable increase in Israeli visitors in 2024, with an estimated 20,000 arriving, resulting in calls by pro-Palestinian locals to restrict Israeli arrivals.[14]
In 2017, the governments of Israel, Sri Lanka, andNepal signed abilateral agreement to bring foreignnursing aides to Israel. The agreement resulted from the difficulties in supervising the quality of nursing aides arriving in Israel and in preventingemployment agencies from taking illegal payment from potential workers in their country of origin to enable them to enter Israel. In order to identify the best ways to improve the system, a program brought 100 nursing aides, who participated in a special training program to prepare them for work in Israel. Anevaluation of the pilot found that participants and employers both reported high satisfaction with the training and the process, with no indications from that the nursing aides had paid any more money than the amount specified in the initial agreement.[15]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Africa |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Americas | ||
| Asia | ||
| Europe | ||
| Oceania | ||
| Former countries | ||
| Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minister) | ||
| International organizations | ||
