New Ambassador Bandara presents credentials to Israel President

The newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sri Lanka to the State of Israel Nimal Bandara presented his Credentials to Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel on May. 

The ceremonial event was held at the President’s residence in Jerusalem, the Capital of Israel where the Ambassador was accompanied by Embassy Deputy Head E.R.M.S.H. Ekanayake, and the family members of Ambassador. 

The Ambassador and Chief of State Protocol Ambassador Gil Haskal, escorted by a motorcade, was welcomed upon his arrival at the President’s Residence with a Guard of Honour and the playing of the National Anthems of Sri Lanka and Israel. Following the official ceremony, Ambassador Nimal Bandara presented the credentials to President Isaac Herzog. 

After the presentation of credentials, the President warmly welcomed Ambassador Nimal Bandara and wished him success in his new assignment as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Israel. Ambassador Nimal Bandara in his remarks, conveyed the warm greetings and best wishes from Ranil Wickramasinghe, the President of Sri Lanka which was warmly reciprocated. 

President Isaac Herzog stated that the existing bilateral relations between Israel and Sri Lanka are excellent and expressed the confidence that the relations would be further deepened and strengthened during the tenure of the new Ambassador. The President recalled the State visit undertaken to Sri Lanka by his father, former President Chaim Herzog on 20 November 1986 during the President J.R. Jayewardene’s time, as the sixth president of Israel. Both late leaders helped to move relations between the two countries forward. President Herzog also noted that Sri Lanka had been the first country in the world that was headed by a woman Prime Minister. The existing relations between the two countries could be enhanced through a greater cooperation in tourism, science and cultural spheres. Herzog remarked that Sri Lanka could also improve its record in voting for Israel in international forums. 

President Herzog suggested that a positive step in this direction would be to arrange a State visit from Sri Lanka to Israel with a business delegation, and the Ambassador said that he would be happy to recommend the same, which would be beneficial to his country’s science, technology and agriculture.

Ambassador Nimal Bandara expressed Sri Lanka’s deep appreciation to Israel’s support in the war against terrorism, the employment opportunities for Sri Lankan caregivers and agricultural workers in Israel. In addition, the Ambassador highlighted the benefits that Sri Lanka received through the international training programme conducted under Israel’s International Development Cooperation Programme which would help in the near future to increase capacity building towards agricultural graduates, lecturers, teachers and officials of the education sector, training on new innovations for the Sri Lankan younger generation. Also, the proposed Agreement on Cooperation in the fields of culture education and science will be beneficial for the exchange of skilled persons in sports, archaeology, heritage, youth development, sports, capacity development in education, higher education sector, and science and technology sectors in both countries. 

During the discussion with the President, senior officials of the President’s office, the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were also present. 

Nimal Bandara joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service in year 2000 and before appointed as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Israel has served in Sri Lanka Missions in Beijing China, The Hague The Netherlands, Islamabad Pakistan, Baghdad, Republic of Iraq, Sri Lankan Director at SAARC Secretariat Kathmandu, Nepal, Sri Lankan Consul General in Sydney Australia, Sri Lankan Consul General in Republic of Cyprus. Before the present appointment he was the Director General East Asia and SAARC Divisions during 2021/2023.

He is a graduate of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and has obtained an MSc Degree in Information Management from Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT). In addition, he pursued professional training in India, China, Malaysia and Hawaii, USA. Also, he has being working as a journalist and writer since 1990.