A three-member delegation from Israel’s National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA), led by its head, retired Brigadier General Itzik Bar, visited Cyprus as the two countries sought closer cooperation in civil protection, emergency management and disaster preparedness. The visit brought the delegation together with Cypriot ministers, the National Guard and agencies responsible for crisis coordination, search and rescue, natural-hazard monitoring and aerial firefighting.

Cyprus Civil Defence Deputy Commander Theodoros Lemoniatis welcomed the delegation and outlined his organisation’s responsibilities and capabilities. The two sides discussed a proposed memorandum of understanding and an accompanying work plan intended to give their cooperation a practical framework.

During the visit, the Israeli delegation met representatives of the Ministry of Interior and Civil Defence, the Ministry of Defence and the National Guard, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Crisis Management Centre. Discussions also involved the Geological Survey Department, the Zenon Coordination Centre, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre and the Cyprus Regional Aerial Firefighting Station. Professor Georgios Boustras, an adviser to the President of the Republic of Cyprus, took part in the meetings.

The delegation held separate meetings with Cyprus’s Minister of Interior and Minister of Defence. Those talks examined opportunities to expand bilateral cooperation in areas related to emergency preparedness and crisis management. Cypriot officials briefed the visitors on the country’s existing structures and capabilities, including how its services coordinated responses to emergencies, monitored natural hazards and conducted search-and-rescue and aerial firefighting operations.

Site visits gave the delegation a closer look at those arrangements. Its programme included Civil Defence facilities, a training centre and search-and-rescue station in Limassol, the Zenon Coordination Centre, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre and the Cyprus Regional Aerial Firefighting Station. The visits provided an opportunity to examine the roles of the different services and identify areas where the two countries could share experience.

The discussions placed particular emphasis on exchanging expertise, training and developing practical forms of cooperation. The two sides also continued work on the proposed memorandum of understanding. By the end of the visit, they had signed a 2026–2027 work plan setting out agreed activities. The memorandum remained under development.

According to the joint announcement by Cyprus’s Ministries of Interior and Defence, the visit reflected a shared aim to strengthen cooperation between Cyprus and Israel through the exchange of knowledge in emergency management.