Ruling Georgian Dream party founder and honorary chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili met Israel’s Ambassador to Georgia, Walid Abu Haya, at the party’s central office, discussing “special friendship” between the two nations and “the importance of diplomacy in ensuring peace and stability,” Georgian Dream said on November 6.
Levan Karumidze, a former Georgian Dream MP who was appointed head of the National Gastronomy Agency in August, was also present.
According to the ruling party, the two sides discussed close cooperation between Georgia and Israel and what it described as “positive dynamics in various areas.” They emphasized the 26-century-long history of relations between the two countries and the political ties, which it said are built on “special friendship” between the two nations.
The sides also discussed the “current geopolitical situation in the world” and “the importance of diplomacy in ensuring peace and stability for the benefit of countries and peoples”, the party said. Ivanishvili wished Abu Haya success in his future work, and both sides “expressed readiness to further strengthen friendship and partnership between Georgia and Israel,” it added.
The Israeli Embassy said Abu Haya expressed his appreciation to Ivanishvili for the meeting. The meeting was an opportunity to “discuss prospects for developing bilateral cooperation in various fields”, it said. The embassy added that Abu Haya “reiterated Israel’s support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The embassy also expressed willingness to continue developing cooperation “in areas of mutual interest.”
Abu Haya presented his credentials in Tbilisi on August 22, 2025. He succeeded Hadas Meitzad, who had served as ambassador since 2022.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze met him on March 11 amid the war in the Middle East. Earlier, in 2025, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Georgia and met the GD interior and justice ministers.
The meeting also comes amid growing scrutiny of Georgia’s relations with Iran, with the latest development involving Kobakhidze’s October meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention on Biodiversity in Yerevan. During the meeting, Pezeshkian reportedly called for “practical cooperation” in economic and tourism spheres, after Tbilisi said it would join extended U.S. sanctions on Iranian airlines.
Ivanishvili, who has been under US sanctions since December 2024 and who currently holds no government office, rarely appears in public. Over the past year, however, the party’s billionaire founder appeared at at least two high-level visits to Georgia, including hosting Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at his business center in Tbilisi in April, and receiving, together with Georgian government officials, the United Arab Emirates president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan last September to discuss Emirati investments in Georgia, among others.
In May 2025, the US Embassy said he had declined a request to meet then-Ambassador Robin Dunnigan, who sought to deliver a message from the Trump administration. Ivanishvili cited the sanctions, which he called “personal blackmail,” and proposed that she meet Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze instead.
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