On 3 May the Ambassador of the state of Israel, H.E. Mr Gideon Meir and Dr Amira Meir, continued with the now firmly established tradition of hosting a gala dinner on the occasion of the 59th Independence anniversary of the state of Israel. This year this prestigious affair was held at the Portomaso suites at the Malta Hilton.

The distinguished guests included President Edward Fenech Adami, speaker Anton Tabone and Mrs Tabone and ministers Louis Galea, Michael Frendo and Dolores Cristina, as well as the ambassadors of the USA, the Russian Federation, the Peoples Republic of China, the Australian, Italian and Belgian ambassadors and representatives of Austria and the Czech Republic. Dimitri Dombret, director general of the European Parliamentary Friends of Israel, came purposely from Brussels to attend this happy occasion.

President emeritus Prof. Guido De Marco, Jason Azzopardi, chairman of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, and Leo Brincat deputy chairman, George Vella, former foreign minister, Angelo Farrugia, shadow justice minister and Paul Borg Olivier, mayor of Valletta also attended along with members of the Jewish community of Malta and the 300-strong Malta - Israel Cultural & Friendship Society, lead by their president and founder Lawrence Attard Bezzina who coordinated the whole event.

H.E. Mr Gideon Meir, the Israeli ambassador to Malta, Italy and San Marino said that he was spellbound by the hospitality of the Maltese not only in official meetings but also during his three visits to Malta since presenting his credentials last November.

His main agenda during his tenure as ambassador to Malta is to improve economic and cultural relations between Malta and Israel and increase the touristic flow between both countries. Once direct flights are again initiated, both countries stand to benefit economically from tourism and financial investment.

Ambassador Meir thanked Dr Fenech Adami who has always attended this gala dinner since its inception and promised that Israeli diplomats would continue to visit Malta every month to improve and follow-up on bilateral relations.