Israel–Romania relations are foreign relations between

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The two nations established diplomatic relations on 11 June 1948. Israel has an embassy in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. Romania has an embassy in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

and a general consulate in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

, and 2 honorary consulates (in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and

). The two have signed treaties and agreements and both are full members of the

Union for the Mediterranean The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM; , ''Al-Ittiḥād min ajl al-Mutawasseṭ'') is an intergovernmental organization of 43 member states from Europe and the Mediterranean Basin: the 27 Member state of the European Union, EU member states (i ...

History

During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, Romania was the only communist country not to break its diplomatic relations with Israel. The two countries signed a trade agreement on 30 January 1971 during Israeli Minister of Agriculture visit to Bucharest. In May 1972,

Golda Meir Golda Meir (; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was the prime minister of Israel, serving from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government. Born into a Jewish family in Kyiv, Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) ...

was the first Israeli prime-minister to visit Romania. In 1984, the Romanian minister of tourism visited Israel. The Romanian foreign minister Ioan Totu arrived in January 1988 accompanied by his department director, Mielcioiu. The minister of foreign trade and international cooperation, Ioan Unger came with a Romanian delegation in October 1988.

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

's emissaries were sent for talks with Israeli leaders, though the head of state himself did not pay an official visit, claiming he would only do so when the Arab-Israeli conflict was resolved. In an article in the ''Israel Journal for Foreign Affairs,'' Ambassador Avi Millo described how, during his posting (1996-2001), he hosted many dignitaries including the then prime minister, Professor Radu Vasile, at his residence in Bucharest. He served traditional Jewish cuisine to his Romanian guests and used it to teach them about Israeli culture. These meals, he stressed, facilitated conversation, trust, and enhanced the relationship between Israel and Romania. In 2010, Israeli President

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...

visited Romania and met with several Romanian leaders, among them President Traian Basescu, Senate leader Mircea Geoana and House Speaker Roberta Anastase. They discussed cooperation in the areas of defense, technology, education, business and tourism, and signed two agreements. In 2014, Romanian Prime Minister

Victor Ponta Victor Viorel Ponta (; born 20 September 1972) is a Romanian politician and jurist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from 2012 to 2015. He was president of the Social Democratic Party (Romania), Social Democratic Party (PSD) from 2010 to ...

arrived in Israel and met with Israeli President

and Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

. In March 2016, Romanian President Klaus Werner Iohannis arrived in Israel and met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Knesset Speaker

Yuli Edelstein } Yuli-Yoel Edelstein (, ; born 5 August 1958) is an Israeli politician who served as Minister of Health from 2020 to 2021. One of the most prominent refuseniks in the Soviet Union, he was the 16th List of Knesset speakers, Speaker of the Kness ...

, and other officials. They discussed terrorism, and Holocaust remembrance. In April 2018, Romania announced that it would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. On 17 October 2023, Romanian

social-democratic Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Marcel Ciolacu was the first foreign leader to visit Israel after the

2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinians, Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 ...

. In June 2024, a

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n man threw a

Molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see '') is a hand-thrown incendiary weapon consisting of a frangible container filled with flammable substances and equipped with a Fuse (explosives), fuse (typically a glass bottle filled wit ...

at the Israeli embassy in

. There were no victims.

Trade

Israel and Romania trade is also influenced by the EU - Israel Free Trade Agreement from 1995. Israel is considered by Romania to be the biggest trade partner in the area of Africa and the Middle East.

Tourism

Israel and Romania allows the citizens of each other to visit without visa since 2008. Both countries are considered popular travel destination with many flights per day.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Israel has an embassy in

. * Romania has an embassy in

and a consulate-general in

References

External links

Israeli embassy in Bucharest

Romanian embassy in Tel Aviv

Romanian consulate general in Haifa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Israel-Romania relations