Israel is to reopen an embassy in New Zealand, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Friday, signalling a further warming in once chilly relations between the two.
The relationship took a frosty turn after two suspected Israeli spies were arrested in March 2004 and charged with trying to fraudulently obtain New Zealand passports.
Uriel Zoshe Kelman and Eli Cara were convicted in July last year, then deported last September after serving two months of their six-month prison sentences.
Israel closed its embassy in Wellington in 2002 for cost-cutting reasons and has since then conducted its diplomatic business with New Zealand from Australia.
New Zealand suspended diplomatic relations following the passport conviction, with Prime Minister Helen Clark saying they would not be restored until Israel apologised.
In August a statement of regret arrived and Israel’s new ambassador to New Zealand was later accredited.
Peters said Israel’s foreign minister Silvan Shalom had told New Zealand’s Turkey-based ambassador to Israel that its embassy in Wellington would reopen.
“This provides a helpful basis for strengthening our bilateral relationship with Israel,” Peters said.
“There has been a period recently of strained relations but that period is now behind us. The New Zealand government welcomes Israel’s decision to reopen its Wellington mission.”
The New Zealand ambassador presented her credentials to Israel earlier in the week. – AFP