Ukraine’s president sent greetings for Israel’s Independence Day.
Israel is “our important partner in the Middle East,” Viktor Yuschenko said in a letter to Acting President Dalia Itzik, adding that he wished “peace, stability and prosperity” to the “friendly Israeli people.”
The address came two weeks after Israel declined to host Yuschenko, who wanted to pay his first state visit to Israel to coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day. Israel said the timing was inconvenient for a state visit because Israel accepts many foreign delegations on that day. In the first two years of his tenure, Yuschenko canceled state visits to Israel at least three times. Some observers said the cancellations were due to mixed feelings about the Middle East among senior Ukrainian diplomats.
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