In an interview to CNA, before leaving Cyprus, as his term of office as the Israeli Ambassador comes to an end after three and a half years, Revel stressed particularly the very significant cooperation between the two countries in the fields of security, energy, emergency issues, innovation, entrepreneurship, health and culture. He even answered to questions in Greek, which he learned during his stay on the island, while asked if Cyprus is one of the closest allies of Israel he answered with one world and certainty: "Yes"

Asked how he has experienced the development of bilateral relations between Cyprus and Israel during his term of office as the Ambassador of Israel in Nicosia, how the new Israeli government views these relations and in which sectors could they further evolve, Revel said that "the relations between Israel and Cyprus are at their highest level ever. There are very close relations between the heads of state, between Prime Minister Bennett and President Nicos Anastasiades and between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid and Nikos Christodoulides and also among many other Ministers,” he added.

Moreover, he said that there are also very important projects, very important cooperation in the field of security, response to emergencies, economic projects and also cultural exchanges.

“We just saw lately when the fire broke out in Cyprus how quickly Israel came with emergency assistance for Cyprus, as Cyprus did in the past. Today we work very closely together and I can say that I am very happy that I was an Israeli Ambassador to Cyprus at a time when the relations were upgraded to their highest level,” Revel added.

Asked about the cooperation between Israel and Cyprus with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Israeli diplomat said that historically Israel and Cyprus have very close medical ties dating tens of years back that really developed in recent years.

He noted that when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out “immediately we established important cooperation between the countries, first and foremost a hotline between the doctors to exchange information, to learn about this new challenge. Also, to supply pharmaceuticals, we conducted very big operations to supply them and also to evacuate patients who needed emergency evacuation by air ambulance.”

He expressed the belief that this joint effort, “especially today that as we see that the pandemic is continuing, is extremely important both for Israel and for Cyprus.”

Asked how Israel views the prospects of the trilateral scheme among Cyprus, Israel and Greece, and the support and endorsement of this partnership by the US, the Israeli diplomat said that “we live in a region facing many very big challenges,” and that there are regimes which are promoting extremism, terrorism, noting that Iran "develops nuclear weapons and missiles, exporting terrorism."

“These are huge challenges. The partnership that we established in this trilateral is very important in facing regional challenges because through the cooperation among Israel, Cyprus and Greece, we are providing a pillar of stability,” he noted.

He stressed that “this is not directed against anybody but in order to provide another paradigm for our region, a paradigm of cooperation, a cooperation on emergency issues, energy issues, also on innovation, on many other important topics and this is very important for the stability, for the prosperity of this region.”

Revel noted that the US support to this is extremely important. “It reinforces our cooperation and we also have today something which is very welcome. More and more cooperation with our peace partners in the Middle East,” he said.

He noted that “Arab countries which are our peace partners, which are joining us in some of the meetings like for example in Paphos in April 2021 with the UAE and this cooperation among the three countries with the US and our peace partners I believe will make a significant contribution to the future of this region.”

Asked about the prospects of further developing the cooperation in the Energy sector between Cyprus and Israel and among the countries of the region in general, Revel noted that “the natural gas resources that we have found in the Exclusive Economic Zones of Israel and Cyprus are a very significant opportunity for our countries, an economic opportunity but also an important economic opportunity for our cooperation.”

He went on to say that “we have already launched several important projects for example the EastMed pipeline to supply gas to Europe. Also, the electrical cable, the interconnector that will connect the electrical grids of Israel, Cyprus and also Greece and from there to Europe.”

Revel noted that these things “are very important for our countries and I believe looking into the way forward, into the future we will develop also more and more also cooperation in renewable energy. We see what is happening today with the environment and renewable energy is our number one priority today.”

Asked about Israel’s stance vis-à-vis Turkish moves in Famagusta and the Turkish stance on the Cyprus problem in general as well as about the construction of drone base in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus, Revel said that the Israeli government already issued a clear statement in July expressing deep concern regarding the latest Turkish statements and also moves regarding the status of Varosha, also expressing full support and solidarity with Cyprus.

“Actually, Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid expressed clearly this solidarity during his meeting with Foreign Minister Christodoulides as I did so during by term of office in Cyprus,” he noted.

Invited to assess the Cyprus stance with regard to the Middle East problem, the Israeli diplomat said that in the Middle East we have today both a challenge and an opportunity.

“We have a challenge because we still see unfortunately places of instability which are used by extreme regimes to develop extremism and terrorism. So, I believe that our cooperation with Cyprus in this regard, is very important,” he added.

He noted that “also we concentrate more and more on the opportunity. Today in the Middle East we have the Abraham Accords supported very much also by the US. We have now new agreements with the UAE, with Bahrain, with Morocco and others as well and of course we have our peace partners Egypt and Jordan and together with Cyprus, together with Greece we are creating more and more forums where we can cooperate.”

Revel said that a very important example is the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum “which brings us together around this issue. And I am confident that in the future we will have more and more forums for cooperation between us which will change the paradigm of the Middle East.”

Asked which are the most vivid and strong moments he has experienced as the Ambassador of Israel to Cyprus, Revel said that there are many such moments.

“Of course, the high-level meetings but I have to say also friendly moments. For example, I remember we had a very lively and friendly concert of Greek music with an Israeli singer Shlomi Saranga and Stella Georgiadou from Cyprus with hundreds of people in the crowd, several ministers from the government other high-level people and also ordinary people who came to enjoy this festival of music,” he noted.

Furthermore, he recalled last year’s festivities for the 60 years of diplomatic relations between Israel and Cyprus.

“On the personal basis, also I enjoyed very much the visits of my family in Cyprus. Just recently my first granddaughter visited me and I have to say that now she has a doll that speaks Greek and teaches her Greek,” he said.

He stressed that “the most important thing that we did is to create a link between the future generation of Israel and the future generation of Cyprus. Especially building a bridge on innovation and entrepreneurship.”

He noted that one moment which was extremely important was when he met tens of Cypriots who were trained on innovation by Israeli experts. “This is for sure inspiring the future generation to solve challenges on climate change, water issues, health issues and many other issues which are important for our future. This bridge of innovation constitutes an inspiration for the future generations,” he added.

Asked what triggered him to learn the Greek language, Revel said, speaking in Greek that he is proud of the excellent relations between Cyprus and Israel. “The most important of all is the friendship between us. During my term of office in Cyprus I visited villages, towns, the mountains, I enjoyed the local cuisine and as an Ambassador I met with the President, Ministers, Mayors, MPs, businesspeople and many other citizens. I met friends everywhere in Cyprus and I wanted to speak with them in Greek. I think it is important even though it is a difficult language.