The Knesset Visiting Delegations—20th Knesset Since April 2015, the 20th Knesset has welcomed some 350 visiting delegations from abroad. Below are some highlights of this work, which point to the variety of national and professional backgrounds represented in these delegations. Visit of the Secretary General of the Parliament of Georgia Participants: Dates: 11–12 December 2018 Details: In December 2018, the Secretary General of the Parliament of Georgia visited the Knesset. He was accompanied by a delegation that included the Deputy Secretary General, the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, and the Knesset’s contact person in the Parliament of Georgia. During the visit, the delegation was shown various aspects of the Knesset's administrative work: human resources, transparency, information and technology, accessibility, and more. A meeting with the Board of Oversight and Review of Specially Designated Secrets of the Japanese House of Representatives (the Diet) Participants: MK Avi Dichter, chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and Mr. Shmuel Letko, the director of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and MK Tzipi Livni Dates: 30 July 2018 Details: On July 29 and 30, the Knesset hosted a delegation of the Board of Oversight and Review of Specially Designated Secrets of the Japanese House of Representatives. The delegation came to Israel to learn about the management of confidential information, the regulation of information classification, and the relationship between the executive branch and the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and its subcommittees. As part of the visit, the delegation members met with Opposition Leader MK Livni, chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee MK Dichter, and with committee director Shmuel Letko, with whom they discussed the committee's work and information management procedures. A meeting with Senator Simon Sutour Participants: MK Revital Swid, the chair of the Knesset Delegation for Relations with the European Parliament and MK Elie Elalouf Dates: 26 June 2018 Details: As part of Senator Sutour's visit as rapporteur of the Committee for European Affairs in the French Senate, he met with MKs Elie Elalouf and Revital Swid, who serves as the chair of the Knesset Delegation for Relations with the European Parliament. They discussed current and diplomatic issues, European Union-Israel affairs, and the EU's position on the nuclear agreement with Iran and the need to understand the regional complexity and maintaining Israel's security. Visit by a delegation of Moroccan Intellectuals Participants: MK Amir Peretz (Zionist Union), MK Meir Cohen (Yesh Atid), MK Elie Elalouf (Kulanu), MK Yoseph Yonah (Zionist Union), MK Amir Ohana (Likud), and MK Hilik Bar (Zionist Union) Dates: 11 June 2018 Details: On 11 June 2018, a meeting was held between Moroccan intellectuals and Israeli MKs. A separate meeting was held with the Speaker of the Knesset. The MKs spoke about their family's connections to Morocco, and the parties discussed the richness of the Moroccan heritage and culture in Israel in all the forms in which they gain expression. Heads of the Foreign Affairs Committees of Various Latin American Parliaments Participants: Knesset Speaker MK Yuli Yoel Edelstein, chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee MK Avi Dichter, MK Haim Jelin, MK Sharren Haskel, and MK Merav Ben Ari Dates: 11–14 June 2018 Details: The heads of the foreign affairs committees from various Latin American countries visited Israel. They met with Knesset Speaker MK Yuli Yoel Edelstein. Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee MK Avi Dichter held a briefing at a lookout point in Jerusalem, which was followed by a meeting at the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that was chaired by MK Dichter and attended by MKs Jelin, Haskel and Ben Ari. MK Jelin took them on a tour of the Gaza border towns and explained the challenges Israel faces in that realm. Visit by a Delegation of Norwegian State-level Politicians Participants: MK Aliza Lavie (Yesh Atid), chair of the Israel–Norway Parliamentary Friendship Group. Dates: 22 May 2018 Details: On 22 May, a delegation of Norwegian state-level politicians visited the Knesset. They met with Aliza Lavie, chair of the Knesset’s Israel–Norway Parliamentary Friendship Group and discussed various issues, including diplomatic issues on the Israeli agenda and subjects of common interest to both countries. Visit of Committee on Public Administration, Regional Development and the Environment of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Participants: Chairman of the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee MK Yoav Kisch, MK Yael German, MK Yael Cohen Paran, MK Dov Khenin, Chairman of the Science and Technology Committee MK Uri Maklev Dates: 21–22 May 2018 Details: The Committee on Public Administration, Regional Development and the Environment of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic visited Israel. The delegation was hosted at a dinner by the Chairman of the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, MK Yoav Kisch, and MK Yael German, and the parties discussed water economy management as well as the latest developments in the Gaza Strip. On the following day, the committee visited the Knesset and discussed environment protection and construction regulations in Israel with MKs Yael Cohen Paran and Dov Khenin. Afterwards, the delegation met with the Chairman of Science and Technology Committee, MK Uri Maklev, and discussed issues related to e-Government and the digitization of the public administration. Visit by Guatemala–Israel Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group Participants: MK Hilik Bar (Zionist Union), Chairs of the Israel–Guatemala Parliamentary Friendship Group MK Yifat Shasha-Biton (Kulanu) and MK Haim Jelin Dates: 16 May 2018 Details: Against the backdrop of the transfer of the Guatemalan Embassy to Jerusalem, the members of the Guatemala–Israel Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group visited the Knesset. The friendship group members gave Deputy Speaker of the Knesset MK Hilik Bar and the chairs of the Israel–Guatemala Parliamentary Friendship Group MKs Yifat Shasha- Biton and Haim Jelin a copy of the Israel Friendship Law that had been enacted by the Guatemalan Congress of the Republic. The law states that Israel Friendship Day is to be celebrated all over the country, in official institutes, and the education system each year on 14 May. The Knesset Members thanked the guests for the moving gesture: "Guatemala is one of the greatest friends of Israel and the Jewish People," Deputy Speaker of the Knesset MK Hilik Bar said. MKs Shasha-Biton and Jelin addressed the criticism leveled against Israel around the world regarding the Gaza border conflict. The members of the Guatemalan Congress said they had been confronted by questions regarding the transfer of the embassy and the support of Israel in light of recent events. "We would not be sitting here with you without my son, who is a soldier, and his friends who are combat soldiers, who defend Israel's border with their bodies, holding back tens of thousands of rioters," MK Shasha-Biton said. MK Jelin, a resident of the Gaza border communities, described the tense atmosphere in the region and said the military was not using excessive force. The chairman of the Guatemalan delegation, Juan Manuel Diaz- Duran, said: "We love Israel, we believe in it, and are moved together with it. This is a historic day." Visit by Delegation of the Welfare and Social Protection Committee of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania Participants: Knesset Speaker MK Yuli Yoel Edelstein, MK Yoseph Yonah, chair of the Israel–Romania Parliamentary Friendship Group Dates: 7 May 2018 Details: From May 7 to 10 May the Welfare and Social Protection Committee of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania visited Israel as a guest of the Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee. During this visit, a joint discussion was held, which revolved around issues that are the core of these committees (Foster Care Law – 2, Disability benefits – 3, and the Geriatric nursing reform).Many Knesset members attended the discussion, and they emphasized the importance of inter-parliamentary meetings as a means of mutually sharing knowledge and experience. Members of the delegation also conducted a work tour in the south, in the welfare and rehabilitation settings of young people and youth accompanied by the committee chairman and various committee members. Visit by France-Israel Friendship Group of the French Senate Participants: Knesset Speaker MK Yuli Yoel Edelstein, chair of the Israel–France Friendship Group MK Elie Elalouf, MK Eyal Ben Reuven, MK Amir Ohana, MK Sharren Haskel, MK Joumah Azbarga Dates: 2 May 2018 Details: A delegation of five senators from the France-Israel Friendship Group in the French Senate headed by Deputy Senate President Philippe Dallier visited the Knesset. The delegation met with the Speaker of the Knesset in advance of his trip to France two weeks thereafter, received a political-security briefing from MK Eyal Ben-Reuven highlighting the effects of the growing Iranian presence in Syria, and attended a luncheon that included an in-depth discussion of future Israeli–French relations that was hosted by MK Elie Elalouf and other MKs from the friendship group. Visit by a Delegation of the Speakers of US State Legislatures Participants: Knesset Speaker MK Yuli Yoel Edelstein Dates: 30 April 2018 Details: About 15 senior state-level legislators from across the United States visited the Knesset under the auspices of the America–Israel Friendship League. The delegation was received at the Knesset by the Speaker on the day of the Summer Assembly. The Speaker emphasized the importance of the ties between Israel and the US and, in particular, the importance of bipartisan support for Israel in the United States; he also answered the delegation's questions about what could be expected in the upcoming Knesset term.