MP insists pro-Israel group members are ‘paying own costs’

Diko MP Chrysis Pantelides said on Thursday that members of the new parliamentary group at the Israel Allies Foundation (IAF) are covering their own expenses, and that the group has no monetary endorsement or exchanges with the organisation. Speaking on Politis radio, Pantelides, who heads the Cyprus chapter, said the costs of the dinner and coffees at Wednesday’s launch event were paid by him. He rejected any suggestion that members would receive compensation for taking part, and that any potential trips funded by the foundation would be fully disclosed. “There is no exchange in political or parliamentary activities,” he said, before remarking that it was “offensive” to imply that an MP would act against the interests of his country and voters. He described the arrangement as a “political framework” for cooperation rather than a set of obligations. The group was formed only the previous day, he said, and online meetings would follow to draw up a specific action plan. Pantelides said the initiative was his own, taken after talks with colleagues who share his views, after he came across the network during missions abroad. The IAF is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation with parliamentary groups in 68 parliaments. Similar groups exist in 25 EU member state parliaments, the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Cyprus group is the 68th in its network The foundation says the Cyprus group is the 68th in its network, which brings together more than 1,700 legislators. Besides Pantelides, they are Andreas Apostolou of Diko, George Karoullas and Charalambos Petrides of Disy, and Sotiris Ioannou and Marios Pelekanos of Elam. The three parties hold a strong majority in the house, representing 33 of the 56 seats. Pantelides said the network would help promote Cypriot positions abroad, including “opposition to illegal investment in the occupied north and support for ending the Turkish occupation”. He said the Cypriot group had already raised the investment issue and that foundation representatives “had backed an end to the occupation”. ‘ He said cooperation with Israel had already brought “significant help in defence” and security equipment, strengthening the National Guard, police and fire brigade. He also pointed to healthcare, saying hundreds of Cypriots had been treated in Israel over the years. Asked whether foreign doctors could work within Gesy, he said he was not competent to answer and that the matter should be judged under existing legislation. On the Middle East, Pantelides acknowledged that Israeli forces “occupy certain territories”, but he said it was “not fair” to compare the Cyprus problem with the Palestinian issue, as unlike Cyprus which is an “established republic”, there “had never been a Palestinian state”. He also said he understood the slogan “from the river to the sea” to mean a call for “the disappearance of Israel”. The group was launched at the House on Wednesday, after the delegation met President Nikos Christodoulides. IAF president Josh Reinstein told reporters Turkey was a “common adversary” of Cyprus and Israel. He said relations had developed at an “unprecedented pace” under Christodoulides. The launch followed that of a Cyprus chapter of Transatlantic Friends of Israel two weeks earlier, which also draws members from the same three parties.