The vote was a joint effort between the Israeli ambassador  and Portuguese MP Alexandre Poco from the center-left Social Democratic Party who is the chairman of the Portugal-Israel parliamentary friendship group.

“This is the first time in history that such a vote has passed in Portugal,” Israel’s  Ambassador in Lisbon Dor Shapira said after Portuguese parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution expressing the country’s support for the State of Israel in the wake of its 75th anniversary.

“This is another important milestone in the relations between Portugal and Israel,” he added.

The vote was approved by 215 members of the parliament, with 11 voting against and four abstentions.

The resolution celebrates “a Jewish home in the Land of Israel where its roots go back at least 35 centuries and where the Jewish national, cultural and religious identity was formed and its physical presence maintained through the centuries, even after many were forced into exile.’’

The vote was a joint effort between the Israeli ambassador  and Portuguese MP Alexandre Poco from the center-left Social Democratic Party who is the chairman of the Portugal-Israel parliamentary friendship group.

Poco hailed the resolution as “a salute on a historic date to a country and people who are friends of Portugal”.

Underlining that “the relationship between Portugal and Israel has been deepened in recent years in several areas”, Poço spoke of “the joint path that the two countries and peoples can take to deal with their challenges.”

The resolution also calls for the expansion of the Abraham Accords, increased economic and cultural cooperation between the two countries, and a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.