Katz at the Med Dialogues conference
Katz at the Med Dialogues conferenceStefano Meloni

Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) particiapted in the fifth Med Dialogues conference in Italy.

During the conference, Katz met several foreign ministers and senior officials from various countries, including Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. This was the pair's second meeting, and the discussion centered around Iran's presence in Syria and Israel's need to remove Iran from the area. He also presented Lavror with a tentative plan to create an "artificial island" near Gaza.

During the meeting, Katz expressed hope that Russia would seriously consider Israel's request that Russian President Vladimir Putin pardon Naama Issachar, a young Israeli woman sentenced to 7.5 years in prison for smuggling marijuana into Russian territory.

Katz also requested that Issachar's mother be allowed to visit her more often.

In his meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, Katz spoke about Iran's attempt to entrench itself in the area, and presented an initiative entitled, "The Tracks to Regional Peace." He invited Di Maio to visit Israel, and was told that Di Maio is interested in visiting Israel in January.

Another of the meetings was with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. In that meeting, Katz noted the need for increased trade between the two countries and the need to take steps to encourage it. He also presented Jaishankar with "The Tracks to Regional Peace."

The two ministers also spoke about increasing cooperation between the two countries in the areas of water, agriculture, and technology. Minister Katz invited Jaishankar to visit Israel, and Jaishankar expressed interest in doing so during the coming year, and invited Katz to visit him in India.