PULSE NEWS MEXICO

The Israeli Embassy in Mexico on Tuesday, Dec. 7, inaugurated a “Friendship Bench” designed by artist Noé Katz in front of its chancellery in Colonia Lomas de Chapultepec.

In an evening ceremony outside the embassy, Israeli Ambassador to Mexico Zvi Tal cut the ribbon on the alabaster bench, which he explained represents the union and longstanding ties of friendship and cooperation between Mexico and Israel.

Also attending the ceremony was Miguel Hidalgo Municipal Mayor Mauricio Tabe, Huixquilucan Mayor Romina Contreras, president of the Central Committee of the Jewish Community in Mexico Marcos Shabot Zonana and the artist himself.

During the event, which is part of the series of commemorative activities for the 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations, Tal said that the work illustrates the values and cultural heritage shared by the ancient peoples of both nations.

He likewise highlighted the contrast between two dates of this 2022: Sept. 21 and Dec. 6, in which “diametrically opposing events occurred at the facilities of the Israeli Embassy in Mexico,” on the one hand, an act of vandalism against the diplomatic chancellery, and, on the other, the inauguration of the Friendship Bench.

Tal said that he hoped that bilateral relations over the course of the next 70 years will “find their inspiration in a humanist vision, fulfilling the objective of guiding the peoples of Mexico and Israel.”