Israel–Sri Lanka relations

Ceylon maintained limited ties with Israel compared to most of its neighbors which refused to collaborate with Israel. Under Prime Minister D.S Senanayake Ceylon began buying weapons from Israel including the HMCyS Gajabahu.[1]

S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike were in comparison hostile to Israel and instead began establishing relations with the PLO. [1]

Lalith Athulathmudali and Ravi Jayewardene believed that Sri Lanka should turn to Israel to combat the LTTE insurgency. Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene established diplomatic ties with Israel. Mossad advised the government to accelerate the Mahaweli development project to solve the energy crisis while providing the best strategy to settle Sinhalese farmers in the island’s dry zones as well as finding funding from international agencies for projects. In return many contracts for designing and developing Mahaweli settlements went to Solel Bonah. Diplomatic ties were suspended under president Ranasingha Premadasa due to pressure from Pro-Palestinian Muslim groups in Sri Lanka.[1][2] but restored in 2000.[3]

Israel was a source of weapons and training for the armed forces during the war against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and weapons sold to the country, including IAI Kfir Fighter Jet, the Super Dvora Mk III-class patrol boat, Saar 4 class missile boats and the Gabriel missile.[4] Israel also tested weapons off the coast of Sri Lanka such as the cruise missile Popeye. [5]

In February 2020, Israel offered Sri Lanka technology in agriculture, education, transportation and IT sectors which was welcomed by the newly elected president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.[6]

In September 2021, the Sri Lankan government signed an agreement with Israel to upgrade Sri Lanka Air Forces Kfirs[7]

Sri Lanka has an embassy in Tel Aviv. The Sri Lankan ambassador to Israel is M.H.M.N Bandara [8]

Israel held an embassy in Sri Lanka in the past, but today is represented in Sri Lanka by Embassy of Israel, New Delhi.

In 2017, the governments of Israel, Sri Lanka, and Nepal signed a bi-lateral agreement to bring foreign nursing aides to Israel. The agreement resulted from the difficulties in supervising the quality of nursing aides arriving in Israel and in preventing employment agencies from taking illegal payment from potential workers in their country of origin to enable them to enter Israel. In order to identify the best ways to improve the system, a program brought 100 nursing aides, who participated in a special training program to prepare them for work in Israel. An evaluation of the pilot found that participants and employers both reported high satisfaction with the training and the process, with no indications from that the nursing aides had paid any more money than the amount specified in the initial agreement.[9]

• Foreign relations of Israel