Foreign Minister Macinka leads 30-company trade mission to Israel

Czech Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Petr Macinka departed Prague this morning for a two-day working visit to Israel accompanied by executives from more than thirty Czech companies. The delegation – the first major outbound trade mission since Czechia’s 2025 export strategy update – will focus on defence technology, cyber-security, green energy and smart mobility, areas singled out for accelerated bilateral cooperation. A flagship Czech-Israeli Business Forum is set for 14 July in Tel Aviv, organised jointly with the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce. Participating firms range from UAV start-ups seeking joint R&D ventures to established automotive suppliers exploring supply-chain diversification. Macinka is scheduled to sign a joint declaration with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar that pledges faster business-visa processing for companies certified under both countries’ trusted-traveller schemes and commits to exploring mutual recognition of electronic signatures on work-permit documents. For Czech corporates, the trip offers first-hand insight into Israel’s new digital-nomad visa, launched in May, which allows qualified foreign talent (including Czechs) to stay for up to 24 months while working remotely for overseas employers. Several Prague-based IT firms in the delegation plan to pilot secondments that will let Czech engineers collaborate on site with Israeli partners without triggering local payroll tax. The Foreign Ministry has arranged a chartered Smartwings flight and on-arrival fast-track at Ben Gurion Airport, reflecting tighter security and EES biometric checks since April. Delegates were pre-enrolled in Israel’s border-pass system, a procedure CzechInvest says could be replicated for future missions to the Gulf and Southeast Asia. Analysts view the visit as a litmus test for how the recently expanded Economic Diplomacy Programme can translate foreign-policy ties into tangible mobility benefits for Czech exporters. Should the pilot visa-facilitation commitments materialise, companies could see processing times for B-1 work permits in Israel drop from eight weeks to ten days – a game-changer for project-based assignments.