Editing Foreign relations of Israel (section)

=== Cyprus ===
{{Main|Cyprus–Israel relations}}

[[File:Rabbi Arie Zeev Raskin meets the President of Cyprus Mr. Dimitris Christofias.jpg|thumb|Chief Rabbi of Cyprus, [[Arie Zeev Raskin]], meets the Cypriot President, [[Demetris Christofias]].]]
Israel has had diplomatic relations with Cyprus since Israel's independence in 1948, when Cyprus was a British protectorate. Israel and Cyprus' associations have continued to expand since 1960, the year of Cyprus' independence. The neighboring countries trade regularly and there are high flows of tourism between them. However, Cypriot politicians have frequently spoken out against Israeli military raids in the Palestinian territories as well as the 2006 Lebanon War, during which Cyprus was forced to manage a heavy flow of refugees and aid out of and into Lebanon.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/cyprus.html |title=The Virtual Jewish History Tour: Cyprus |publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2022}}

However, the discovery of natural gas in the [[Leviathan gas field]] led to a thawing of relations between the two governments. The two countries demarcated their Exclusive Economic Zones in 2010. Israel's rising antagonism with Turkey further increased the level of cooperation between the two countries, as Israel compensated by improving its relations elsewhere. In February 2012, Netanyahu visited Cyprus, the first visit of an Israeli Prime Minister in history.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook/2012/02/israel-and-cyprus?zid=309&ah=80dcf288b8561b012f603b9fd9577f0e |title=Getting friendly |newspaper=The Economist |date=18 February 2012 |access-date=23 August 2012}}</ref>

Relations between Israel and Cyprus are based on mutual respect for Western values, the support for free-market economy and the establishment of democracies in the Middle East that would co-exist peacefully.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=41145604|title=The State, Ethnic Relations and Democratic Stability: Lebanon, Cyprus and Israel|first=Oren|last=Yiftachel|date=1 January 1992|journal=GeoJournal|volume=28|issue=3|pages=319–332|doi=10.1007/BF00817909|bibcode=1992GeoJo..28..319Y |s2cid=189880356}}</ref>