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The government of Israel has welcomed Sri Lanka's announcement to restore diplomatic ties and has also expressed willingness to provide support to fight against terrorism in Sri Lanka. "Israel is pleased by the declaration of Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga concerning the resumption of relations," foreign minister David Levy has said according to a statement issued by his office. He said a delegation would arrive from Sri Lanka in the next few days to examine modalities for the resumption of ties. However, as per reports in the early edition of the Sunday Island, a special military advisory team is also due in Sri Lanka very soon to assist the security forces in its tactical and strategic planning. During the government of Mr. J.R. Jayawardane it had been Israel who helped Sri Lanka with Bell passenger helicopters and necessary spare parts to fight against the LTTE when support sought by India and America were turned down. A few years ago Israel police and mozad reports also revealed connections between the Hamas guerillas, a terrorist group in Israel, and the LTTE. However, reports have stated that Israel has responded to Sri Lanka's call for help stating that it was the duty to support a country, fighting against terrorism. Full diplomatic relations were broken between the two countries in the early 1970s in common with many other Third World nations in protest at Israel's continued occupation of Arab land seized in the 1967 Middle East war. According to diplomats, Sri Lanka has been trying to re-establish ties with Israel since 1995 but has been prevented from doing so by Muslim ministers. An Israeli interests section was opened under the auspices of the US embassy in 1985 but was closed by the Sri Lankan authorities five years later. But as pointed out by latest reports, despite the absence of official links, Israel has trained and armed Sri Lanka's security forces fighting against the Tigers.
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