Israeli Embassy in Asunción reopened
30 Jul 2015
The government of Paraguay stood by Israel during Operation Protective Edge
and has been supportive of Israel at major international forums.
​(Communicated by the MFA Spokesperson)

The Israeli Embassy in Asunción, Paraguay, was reopened on Tuesday 28 July
2015 in the presence of outgoing MFA Director General Nissim Ben-Shitrit and
Ambassador Israel Peleg Levy. Paraguay was represented at the opening by
Minister of Agriculture Jorge Gattini, the deputy ministers of foreign
affairs and industry and other officials.
The event took place in conjunction with other festive ceremonies, which
included the ambassador's credential-presentation ceremony, where he
presented his credentials to the President of Paraguay Horacio Cartes on 21
July, and the affixing of a new mezuzah at the Israeli Embassy in Asunción.

The government of Paraguay stood by Israel during Operation Protective Edge,
a time when Israel was criticized by many countries. More recently, Paraguay
supported Israel at major international forums. Israel cooperates with
Paraguay in the battle against terrorism and maintains a supportive role in
actions against Hezbollah at the tri-border region.

The two nations maintain a bilateral free trade agreement within the
framework of Mercosur - the South American Common Market. Sophisticated
Israeli risk-prevention systems have been installed at the Itaipú
hydroelectric power plant, one of the largest hydroelectric power plants in
the world. The bilateral balance of trade stands at $ 200 million.
Large-scale meat imports form a large portion of Israel’s trade with
Paraguay. Israel maintains close cooperation with Paraguay in the areas of
water, agriculture, education and medicine, and recently the Ministers of
Agriculture of the two countries exchanged visits and signed agreements of
cooperation in the field of agricultural technology.

The embassy’s reopening represents a full historic circle after the embassy
was closed in 2002, along with 15 other embassies around the world, due to
budgetary constraints. In July 2013, a month before taking office, the newly
elected president of Paraguay announced the opening of the embassy of
Paraguay in Israel and appointed Honorary Consul Max Haber as Paraguay's
ambassador to Israel.