Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir met with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze in Tbilisi on Sunday evening, as part of his first working trip to the South Caucasus nation.
The visit, which came at the invitation of Georgian Interior Minister Gela Geladze, will focus on cooperation on internal security, counter-terrorism and fighting organized crime, Arutz 7 reported.
Ben-Gvir is also scheduled to meet with other top officials to discuss joint training and knowledge-sharing between law enforcement agencies.
As part of the trip, Ben-Gvir, who oversees the Israel Police and Israel Prison Service, will visit police facilities and prisons.
The IDF is “defeating Iran and Hezbollah, and is also fighting Hamas in Gaza. Humanity cannot allow Hamas to remain in Gaza, and it must be destroyed,” Ben-Gvir declared during the meeting with Kobakhidze on Sunday evening, according to a Hebrew-language readout of his remarks.
Ben-Gvir presented the prime minister with photos of Hamas terrorists seizing aid trucks in the Gaza Strip, explaining that there is no famine in the coastal enclave. He asked Kobakhidze, Geladze and Foreign Minister Maka Bochorishvili to call for the release of all 50 hostages still held by Hamas, 688 days after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
The Georgian prime minister said during Sunday’s meeting: “We want to strengthen the connection between the countries and peoples. We have excellent relations with the Jewish community in Georgia and the many Israeli tourists here, and we would be happy to visit Israel.”
In April, Ben-Gvir visited the United States, on his first working trip abroad since he joined the Israeli government in December 2022.
The minister’s trip concluded with a Capitol Hill meeting with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.). Ben-Gvir also met with senior Republican officials at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, including House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota.
