by Eglė Krištopaitytė, 15min.lt

Israel’s new ambassador to Lithuania Yossef Levy is enthusiastic about bilateral relations and is giving assurances the priority of the embassy under his leadership isn’t the past. Levy says Lithuania is currently undergoing a wonderful phase “when you grab a flashlight and look at your whole history, looking for both the good and the bad.”

In an interview with 15min.lt, the ambassador said discussions in recent months on historical memory are Lithuania’s internal issue which Israel is observing from the sidelines. “I am not an historian, but I sincerely believe the horrific period of World War II was a very tense moral test. Both for individuals and societies. Some passed this test, others didn’t. That goes for all the occupied territories in Europe,” Levy said.

Speaking about the conflict between Israel and Palestine, the ambassador told 15min.lt “we sincerely want to reach a peace agreement with out neighbors.”

Full text in Lithuanian here.