The Japanese and Israeli governments have decided to establish a framework for working-level talks between their foreign and defense authorities, it has been learned, in a bid to deepen bilateral security cooperation and strengthen coordination in cybertechnology, which Israel excels at.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to reach an agreement on the matter in a meeting Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Abe departed Tokyo on Sunday for his Middle East trip.
Following the two leaders' agreement, Japan and Israel are expected to hold the first meeting of the framework as early as this year, the sources said.
In their upcoming meeting, Abe and Netanyahu are also poised to confirm close cooperation between the National Security Council's secretariat and Israel's National Security Council.
Tokyo hopes to tap into Israel's cybertechnology expertise, which is said to be world-leading, to improve its own cyberdefense capability. The two governments started cooperation in the fields in 2014.
In addition to Israel, Abe is scheduled to visit the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Palestine on his Middle East trip.
In the UAE, the prime minister is expected to express appreciation for the extension of a Japanese company's oil concessions off Abu Dhabi. In Jordan, he is set to confirm coordination with the Hashemite kingdom in such areas as measures against extremism.
The prime minister is also poised to urge the Palestinian Authority to seek peace through dialogue.
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