Israel-Finland relations are diplomatic, commercial and cultural ties between

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Finland maintains an embassy in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

and Israel maintains an embassy in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. Both countries are full members of the

Union for the Mediterranean The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM; french: Union pour la Méditerranée, ar, الإتحاد من أجل المتوسط ''Al-Ittiḥād min ajl al-Mutawasseṭ'') is an intergovernmental organization of 43 member states from Europe and the M ...

History

The foundation for bilateral relations between Finland and Israel was laid before the establishment of the State of Israel. Finnish President

Paasikivi Juho Kusti Paasikivi (; 27 November 1870 – 14 December 1956) was the seventh president of Finland (1946–1956). Representing the Finnish Party until its dissolution in 1918 and then the National Coalition Party, he also served as Prime Minister ...

announced de facto recognition of Israel on 11 June 1948, a month after Israel's declaration of independence. Finland officially recognized the State of Israel on 18 March 1949 and diplomatic relations were established on 14 November 1950. Finland opened its embassy in Tel Aviv in 1952 and Israel opened its embassy in Helsinki in 1956. The first Finnish diplomatic representative to Israel was Toivo Kala, who presented his letter of accreditation to Foreign Minister

Moshe Sharett Moshe Sharett ( he, משה שרת, born Moshe Chertok (Hebrew: )‎ 15 October 1894 – 7 July 1965) was a Russian-born Israeli politician who served as Israel's second prime minister from 1954 to 1955. A member of Mapai, Sharett's term was b ...

. Sharett told Kala that he admired Finland's readiness to defend its rights and its efforts to rebuild after the war. Today, Finland and Israel have strong cultural and scientific ties, and some 10,000 Finns visit Israel every year.

Economic relations

In 2005, Finnish exports to Israel totaled 155.24 million euros and imports from Israel to Finland totaled 95.96 million euros. Israel imports Finnish machinery, telecommunications equipment, wood, paper products and chemical industry products. Israel's leading exports to Finland are telecommunications equipment and machinery, and Israeli fruits and vegetables.Finland’s trade relations with Israel get a new boost
In 2004, a joint Finland-Israel Technology (FIT) cooperation program was created for research and development projects in the field of ICT. The Office of the Chief Scientist in Israel and Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Research and Innovation, allocated five million euros each for the funding of projects. The Finland Israel Trade association serves as an intermediary between Finnish and Israeli companies in order to create new business contacts. It helps to organize business missions to Israel and hosts business missions from Israel. In April 2019, Finland and Israel embarked on a project to sponsor joint programs in digital health and healthcare technology. The Israel Innovation Authority and the Helsinki Business Hub led the initiative.

Cultural ties

In 2006, an exhibition on the history of Finland's Jews from the 1830s to the 1970s opened at

Beth Hatefutsoth ANU - Museum of the Jewish People, formerly the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, is located in Tel Aviv, Israel, at the center of the Tel Aviv University campus in Ramat Aviv. ANU - Museum of the Jewish People is an institution ...

Military ties

IMI Galil The IMI Galil ( he, גליל) is a family of Israeli-made automatic rifles chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO and 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges. Originally designed by Yisrael Galili and Yakov Lior in the late 1960s, the Galil was first produced ...

is said to have been partially based on Finnish

Rk 62 The RK 62 (from Finnish , 'assault rifle 62'), officially 7.62 RK 62 and commercially M62, is an assault rifle manufactured by Valmet and Sako. It is the standard issue infantry weapon of the Finnish Defence Forces. The RK 62 was designed in 19 ...

assault rifle, and indeed the machinery used to manufacture the first Galils as well as receivers for the early samples were provided by

Valmet Valmet Oyj is a Finnish company and a developer and supplier of technologies, automation systems and services for the pulp (paper), pulp, paper and energy industry, energy industries. Valmet has over 200 years of history as an industrial oper ...

Tampella Oy Tampella Ab was a Finnish heavy industry manufacturer, a maker of paper machines, locomotives, military weaponry, as well as wood-based products such as packaging. The company was based mainly in the Naistenlahti district of the city of ...

(through fully owned subsidiary Salgad) and Israeli

Solel Boneh Solel Boneh ( he, סולל בונה, lit. ''Paving and Building'') is the oldest, and one of the largest, construction and civil engineering companies in Israel. History During British rule (1921-1948) Solel Boneh was founded in 1921 in British ...

founded

Soltam Systems Soltam Systems ( he, סולתם מערכות) is an Israeli defense contractor located in Yokneam, Israel. The company has been developing and manufacturing advanced artillery systems, mortars, ammunition and peripheral equipment since 1952. ...

in 1950 and started to license build Finnish designed artillery pieces and grenade launchers in Israel. It was seen as a win-win for two small and relatively poor countries with nascent defence. When two decades passed the two countries' profiles had grown apart. Amid negative publicity and dwindling domestic sales for Tampella, the ties between Salgad and Soltam were severed 15 August 1974. The FDF's LV141 and LV241 radios have been contract-built by

Tadiran Tadiran refers to a former Israeli conglomerate, which was founded in 1962 by the merger of two companies, Tadir and Ran (itself founded as a batteries manufacturer in 1932). The name of the company is a joining of both companies’ names. Through ...

for Danish

Terma A/S Terma A/S is a Danish weapon and aerospace manufacturer for both civilian and military applications, and is owned by the Danish company Thrige Holding A/S. It is Denmark's largest company within the aerospace and weapon industry, employing approx ...

. Spike anti-tank missiles were bought from German

Rheinmetall Rheinmetall AG is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. Its shares are traded on the Frankfurt stock exchange. History Rheinmetall was founded in 1889. Banker and investor Lorenz Zuckermandel L ...

, which subcontracted

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. ( he, רפאל - מערכות לחימה מתקדמות בע"מ, formerly Rafael Armament Development Authority), ("Rafael" from Hebrew acronym of "Authority for the Development of Armaments" - ) is an Israel ...

. Rafael was also involved in FDF's LITENING AT targeting pod purchase. Mastsystem International, current Cobham Mast Systems have been granted an export license to export some telescopic masts from Finland to Israel. The process to receive export licenses to Israel has been criticized as politically unpredictable, enough for customers to lose interest. For example, a Mastsystem International spokesperson noted in October 2010 that they were denied permit from the end of 2008 to summer 2009. In the same newspaper article a researcher noted that in 2008 Finland had also denied some export permits to Sri Lanka, Brazil and Russia. In April 2012 the FDF ordered for the Army 24 million euros worth of Orbiter II

UAVs An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...

from

Aeronautics Defense Systems Aeronautics Ltd. ( he, אירונאוטיקס בע"מ) (formerly NETS Integrated Avionics Systems) is an Israeli company specializing in the manufacturing of Unmanned Aerial Systems for military uses. Since its establishment in 1997, the company ...

. Their previous Swiss UAV

RUAG Ranger RUAG Holding (originally Rüstungs Unternehmen Aktiengesellschaft; Joint Stock Defence Company) is a Swiss company specialising in aerospace engineering and the defence industry. Its headquarters are located in Bern, while it also has numerous pr ...

's design was also done in Israel. In January 2014, the FDF ordered $47 million worth of multi-spectral camouflage technology from Fibrotex Technologies.

References

External links

Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the relation with Israel

Finnish embassy in Tel Aviv

Israeli embassy in Helsinki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finland-Israel relations