Minsk and Jerusalem will reduce level of interstate contacts

In 2016, Belarus and Israel will close their embassies in these countries. According to the Foreign Ministry, Belarus will close its embassy in Israel due to economic reasons and budget constraints. In 2003, Jerusalem closed the embassy in Minsk because of the cost savings, but reopened two years later. Meanwhile, foreign policy analysts believe that the closure of the embassies could be due to political reasons – domestic clashes between various parties in Israel, as well as Belarus lacking the independence in foreign policy and her dependence on the Kremlin. It is worth noting that Belarus has friendly or benevolent relations with some Middle East countries, which are not in the neighbourly relations, and often confront one another, such as Israel, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. When embassies close, relations between Minsk and Israel are likely to chill, as they will lose high-level political contacts and an important communication channel.