Visa-free regime will not improve political contacts between Minsk and Jerusalem

Last week, Deputy Minister for Sport and Tourism Mikhali Portnov officially confirmed the introduction of the visa-free regime with Israel. Negotiations between Minsk and Jerusalem on the introduction of the visa-free regime were ongoing over the past few years, and the starting date had been postponed by Israel several times. The current level of political contacts between the Belarusian and Israeli leaders and prospects for their development are quite low. The Israeli government has once again taken a preliminary decision to close its diplomatic mission to Minsk for economic reasons. In addition, speaking of Minsk’s interests in the Middle East, high-level contacts with the Arab countries seem to be more appealing to the Belarusian authorities, than with Israel.