Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, is visiting Georgia. He met Georgian Dream Interior Minister Gela (Geka) Geladze. According to Israeli media reports, Ben-Gvir also met GD Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, although no official confirmation from the PM’s office was available at the time of writing.
According to the Interior Ministry press release, the meeting between Geladze and Ben-Gvir focused “on the existing close and effective cooperation” and on “the importance of sharing experience and best practices.”
“Itamar Ben Gvir expressed his gratitude to his Georgian counterpart for the hospitality and conveyed his readiness to deepen cooperation in priority areas,” the MIA said in the August 25 press release, noting that deputy interior ministers and other senior ministry officials, as well as Israeli Ambassador to Georgia Walid Abu-Haya and other embassy representatives, were also present during the meeting.
Meeting with Kobakhidze
Some Israeli media outlets reported that Ben-Gvir and Kobakhidze met, also publishing a photo of the meeting, and citing Israel’s Ministry of National Security as a source.
According to the report by Israel National News (Arutz Sheva), Ben-Gvir arrived in Georgia on August 24 “following an invitation” from Geladze, and met with Kobakhidze “as part of efforts to deepen political and security ties between the two countries.” GD’s Foreign and Interior Ministers also took part in the meeting, the report said.
The agency reported that Ben-Gvir’s visit will focus on discussing “cooperation in the fields of internal security, counterterrorism, and the fight against organized crime, as well as opportunities for expanding training and knowledge exchanges between law enforcement agencies.” It is also reported that the Israeli official plans to visit “several key sites connected to Georgia’s police and prison service, where he will receive briefings on operational methods and the security challenges faced by the country’s enforcement bodies.”
Israel National News cites Ben-Gvir as saying during the meeting that “the State of Israel is defeating Iran and Hezbollah, and is also fighting Hamas in Gaza. Humanity cannot allow Hamas to remain in Gaza, and it must be destroyed.” According to the media report, the Israeli official “also presented photos of armed Hamas terrorists seizing humanitarian aid trucks in Gaza, emphasizing that contrary to Hamas propaganda, there is no famine or food shortage in the Strip,” and urged Kobakhidze “to join the unambiguous call for the release of all hostages.”
Israel National News then quotes Kobakhidze as saying during the meeting: “We want to strengthen the bond between our countries and peoples. We maintain excellent relations with the Jewish community in Georgia and with the many Israeli tourists here, and we would be happy to visit Israel.”
Context
The visit comes as GD has increasingly come under scrutiny both at home and abroad for its relations with Iran.
In 2024, Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze made two official trips to Iran: first to attend the funeral of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, and then for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian. During the inauguration, where speakers were openly hostile to Israel and the U.S., Kobakhidze was seen standing next to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated days later.
In July, following a military escalation between Israel and Iran, the Embassy of Iran in Georgia reported that the GD deputy foreign minister attended an embassy event dedicated to “the memory of martyrs who died during the Israeli regime’s armed attack against Iran’s territorial integrity.” Israel’s Embassy in Tbilisi told RFE/RL Georgian Service in response that they were “shocked” over the official’s move.
Georgia recognized the statehood of Palestine in 1992 and voted in support of the UNGA resolution upgrading Palestine to non-member observer state status in the United Nations in 2012. The country also supports the peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian issue based on a two-state solution.
Georgian officials have strongly condemned the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, but have largely abstained from commenting on the developments in and around Gaza since.
Ben-Gvir has been a controversial figure throughout the Gaza war, having come under sanctions of several countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway, over “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities.”
His Tbilisi visit was met with a small protest rally, with a group of activists displaying the Palestine flag from Tbilisi’s Peace Bridge, Mautskebeli outlet reported.
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