Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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70. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the contact he or any Minister in his Department have had with any minister or official in the government of Israel since January 2014; the nature of these contacts, the purpose of these contacts; if a record was kept; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39066/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Engagement with my international counterparts is a central part of my work and that of my officials in the Department of Defence. That being said, in my capacity as Minister for Defence I have not had any contact with a Minister/official from Israel.

In the past there have been visits by previous Ministers for Defence to the Middle-East which included on occasion meetings with an Israeli Minister and/or officials. The last such meeting was in March 2018 when a visit to Israel was included as part of Minister Kehoe's visit to the Middle East. The visit was primarily as part of the St Patricks Day programme to the region. During that visit he met with Mr Zohar Palti, Head of Political- Military Bureau of Israel's Ministry of Defence .