Israel–Sri Lanka relations

Israel–Sri Lanka relations refers to the bilateral relations between Israel and Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka has an embassy in Tel Aviv. The current Sri Lankan ambassador to Israel is M. H. M. N Bandara. Israel formerly held an embassy in Sri Lanka, but today is represented in Sri Lanka by the Embassy of Israel in New Delhi, India.
History
Since its independence in 1948, Ceylon maintained limited ties with Israel compared to most of its neighbors, which refused to collaborate with or recognize Israel. Under UNP Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake, Ceylon began buying weapons from Israel, including the HMCyS Gajabahu.
In comparison, SLFP Prime Ministers S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike were hostile to Israel and preferred establishing relations with the Palestine Liberation Organization.
By the late 1970s, Lalith Athulathmudali and Ravi Jayewardene believed that Sri Lanka should turn to Israel to combat the Sri Lankan Tamil insurgents and the terrorism of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene established diplomatic ties with Israel. Mossad advised the Sri Lankan 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 Boneh.
Diplomatic ties were suspended in 1992 under president Ranasinghe Premadasa due to pressure from pro-Palestinian Muslim groups in Sri Lanka. Relations were restored again in 2000.
Israel was a key source of weapons and training for the Sri Lanka Armed Forces during the Sri Lankan Civil War against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Israel sold weapons to the country, including the IAI Kfir fighter jet, the Super Dvora Mk III-class patrol boat, Saar 4 class missile boats and the Gabriel missile. Israel also tested weapons off the coast of Sri Lanka such as the cruise missile Popeye.
In February 2020, Israel offered Sri Lanka technology in agriculture, education, transportation and IT sectors, which was openly welcomed by Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In September 2021, the Sri Lankan government signed an agreement with Israel to upgrade Israeli-made Kfir fighter jets of the Sri Lanka Air Force.
Foreign workers
In 2017, the governments of Israel, Sri Lanka, and Nepal signed a bilateral 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.
See also
Foreign relations of Israel
References
Sri Lanka
Bilateral relations of Sri Lanka