Relationship dossier
Israel
Switzerland
Relationship assessment
Durable economic and research cooperation alongside disagreements over Israeli-Palestinian policy.
Israel toward Switzerland
+15Israel participates in the EFTA free-trade framework, which provides a basis for economic cooperation with Switzerland, and engages in bilateral scientific collaboration. These arrangements support constructive relations, while Swiss positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remain a source of disagreement.
Switzerland toward Israel
+15Switzerland participates in the EFTA free-trade framework with Israel and maintains bilateral scientific collaboration. Swiss government criticism of Israeli settlement policy and support for Palestinian statehood contribute to political disagreement.
Overall relationship
+15The relationship combines durable economic and scientific cooperation with recurring political differences over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The cooperative arrangements provide a substantive basis for engagement, but do not amount to a close strategic partnership.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Israel and Switzerland maintain substantive economic and research cooperation, including through Israel’s participation in the EFTA free-trade framework and bilateral scientific collaboration. Their relationship also includes political disagreements, particularly over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Swiss positions on Israeli settlement policy. Cooperation is durable, but these disagreements constrain the depth of the partnership.
Areas of tension
- Swiss criticism of Israeli settlement policy and settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.
- Differences over Palestinian statehood and the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Key developments
Israel joined the EFTA free-trade framework, extending trade arrangements to Switzerland.
Israel and Switzerland established bilateral scientific collaboration.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of current bilateral research and economic cooperation are unclear.
- The degree to which political disagreements affect practical government cooperation is uncertain.