(Communicated by the MFA Spokesperson)
At the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in full cooperation with the Israel Police, a group of 14 Israeli police officers will soon leave for Haiti. Their mission will be to assist the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINHUSTAH) in upholding public order and stabilizing the situation following the severe earthquake that struck Haiti this past January.
The mission is Israel's answer to the UN's call on member nations to extend aid to Haiti following the tremendous earthquake that struck the island in January. Israel's dispatching of the police team is an expression of its desire to contribute its experience and professional expertise, particularly after the successful mission of an Israeli policewoman who served for nine months in the UN peacekeeping force in Georgia.
The Israeli police officers will work in Haiti alongside the Italian police force, which will provide the Israeli officers with logistical support. In recent months, the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Israel Police have been in contact with the UN Department of Peace-keeping Operations and the Italian government and police force in order to advance this mission.
It will be remembered that, a short time after the earthquake struck Haiti, Israel sent a field hospital and an evacuation and rescue team to the island.
* * *
The Israeli police returned home on December 12, 2010, after completing their mission in Haiti.