An official Israeli aid delegation to Venezuela is expected to depart shortly, in an unusual move given that Jerusalem and Caracas have had no diplomatic relations for some 17 years.
The delegation is being sent after two severe earthquakes struck Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, causing buildings to collapse, leaving thousands injured and tens of thousands without homes. It will include professionals from the Foreign Ministry and the IDF, including engineering experts from the Home Front Command.
The Foreign Ministry side of the delegation will be led by Ambassador Yoed Magen, who grew up in Venezuela and is considered one of Israel’s senior experts on the country and Latin America.
In an interview before the delegation’s departure, Magen described how Israel built, within days, a coordination mechanism with a country where it has no embassy. He explained why the mission is focusing on assessing damaged buildings, and what message Israel wants to send, including to a country with which it has no diplomatic relations.
Venezuela and Israel have had no diplomatic relations for years. How did this move come about, and who initiated the first contact?
Officials utilized unorthodox channels due to a lack of diplomatic relations
“True, since Operation Cast Lead, we have had no diplomatic relations with Venezuela,” Magen said. “One of the things that most characterizes the State of Israel is that when natural disasters occur, as well as other disasters, Israel is among the first countries that wants to provide assistance.
“When there are floods, earthquakes, or any other disaster in the world, this comes naturally to the Israeli system. The immediate thought is: How can we help? This is already built into the DNA of the Foreign Ministry and other parts of the Israeli system.”
There is a big gap between goodwill and an official delegation to a country with no diplomatic relations. How did this happen in practice?
“Once the decision was made, and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar instructed us to advance a plan, we began working,” he replied. “We do not have ordinary official contacts with officials in Venezuela, but since I deal with Venezuela-related issues, I worked through various channels to reach the right people and offer our assistance.
“Very senior figures were involved in this, from the foreign minister to other officials in the Israeli system. At the moment, there is ongoing contact, mainly through me, with senior officials in the Venezuelan government. There are no diplomatic relations, but this is first-rate humanitarian assistance.”
Magen described the decision to launch the mission as an almost instinctive response to the difficult images coming from the field.
“It is heartbreaking to see the pictures from Venezuela: buildings that collapsed like houses of cards, people buried under the rubble,” he said. “We know these situations from many countries around the world. The natural Israeli feeling, and also the Jewish feeling, is to assist, rescue, help, and contribute from the knowledge and expertise we have accumulated here. This is part of who we are. That is how it started moving. It took a few days, but it happened, and now we are preparing to leave for Venezuela.”
Venezuela has close ties with Iran. How much did that affect the security preparations for the delegation?
“The security issue in every delegation of this kind is complex,” Magen said. “It must be understood that security coordination with a country with which we have no ties, where we have no embassy and no logistical or diplomatic rear base, is far more difficult. In the end, as I said, we are going to Venezuela to carry out the mission.”
What exactly is your mission on the ground? What happens in the first 24 hours after landing?
“The first mission is to establish a network on the ground,” Magen explained. “At the moment, our contacts with the Venezuelan system are limited to a small number of people. Once we land, we will begin deploying and understanding which areas we can send the expert teams to.”
According to Magen, the first stage of the mission will focus mainly on engineering: assessing buildings damaged by the earthquakes in order to determine whether residents can return to them, whether they can be rehabilitated, or whether they must be demolished.
“The team of experts is composed mainly of engineers who will be able to examine, analyze, and provide professional assessments of damaged buildings: which are designated for demolition, which can be rehabilitated, and which can allow families to return immediately,” he said.
“This is a very important mission because the Venezuelans have defined the treatment of the homeless as their central problem right now. If an Israeli team arrives at a damaged building and determines that, despite the damage, people can enter it, live in it, or rehabilitate it without immediate danger, that will significantly ease the burden on the Venezuelans. I hope we will have results like that.”
The IDF delegation will be commanded by Brig.-Gen. Elad Edri, chief of staff of the Home Front Command.
Beyond the engineering mission, what else will you do there?
“First, we will need to understand the situation on the ground,” Magen said.
“This is a country in a kind of chaos following the earthquake, and it is a very complex situation. We will also provide assistance to the Jewish community there, which is in distress. There are about 20 families that lost their homes, three people were killed, and I believe there are also three missing. We will assist them as much as we can.”
According to Magen, the very arrival of an Israeli delegation carries a message broader than the professional assistance itself.
“Our presence sends a very important message, to Venezuela, to Latin America, and to the whole world: Israel, regardless of its diplomatic relations or the ties it has with a given country, shows up when an event like this occurs. We want to assist, support, and help in a humanitarian crisis of this kind.”
In other words, the message is that, from Israel’s perspective, humanitarian aid stands above diplomatic disputes. At the same time, you are a senior diplomat and an expert on the region. Do you see this event as having potential to open a new channel of communication between Jerusalem and Caracas?
“We are going on a humanitarian mission,” Magen clarified. “That is our focus. We are going in order to be where we can be relevant and helpful.
“If there are additional contacts later, we will see. Right now, what matters to us is the mission for which we are leaving, as defined by the prime minister, the foreign minister, and the Home Front Command. We want to carry out this mission in the best possible way. If there are side effects, we will see later.”
The Foreign Ministry emphasized that, at this stage, the delegation’s success will be measured by its ability to assist on the ground, stabilize affected areas, and allow residents to return safely to their homes. Still, even as Jerusalem frames the move as purely humanitarian, its unusual nature is hard to miss: An official Israeli delegation is heading to a country with which Israel has no relations, in the middle of a national disaster, seeking to extend a hand where diplomacy stopped.
Or, as Magen put it: “When an event of this kind happens, Israel shows up.”
