In an October 20 announcement, Sa’ar said Forum Secretary General Baron Divavesi Waqa had informed him that Pacific leaders approved Israel’s application at their meeting in Palau. The acceptance remains attributed to the Israeli announcement: a separate Forum statement naming Israel was not available in the sources checked for this report.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry described the arrangement as participation in the Forum’s Sectoral Partnership Stream, according to Reuters. That status is distinct from full membership in the regional organization.
What Sa’ar Announced
Sa’ar said he presented Israel’s request during a visit to Fiji in June. His announcement connects that application with the subsequent leaders’ decision in Palau, although it does not give the exact day on which the application was approved.
The Forum brings together 18 Pacific countries and territories, including Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and several smaller island states. Its own institutional description says leaders reach decisions by consensus and the Secretariat coordinates agreed regional policies and initiatives.
Israel’s announced external partnership would not make it a nineteenth member. Keeping that distinction clear is essential to understanding the scope of the development.
What the Partnership Would Cover
The ministry identified water management, desalination, agriculture, adaptation to climate change, innovation and sustainable development as areas in which Israel could contribute.
These are fields for proposed cooperation, rather than a list of completed projects. No signed project package, funding allocation or delivery timetable was established in the material available for this report.
Sa’ar said Israel and the Forum would prepare a joint action plan and a mechanism for monitoring implementation. That process would determine how the diplomatic framework translates into specific activities and how progress is assessed.
The Next Step Is an Action Plan
The announcement follows Israel’s expansion of its diplomatic presence in the Pacific. Sa’ar pointed to the embassy in Fiji, which he said also serves nine other Pacific island countries, and to embassies opened in Jerusalem by Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Nauru.
That embassy outreach provides background to the application. It does not establish that all Forum members have made new political commitments to Israel or agreed to support it in particular international votes.
For the partnership itself, the next substantive details are its confirmed terms and the contents of the proposed action plan: which activities are agreed, who will carry them out and what resources are committed. The announcement identifies the intended direction of cooperation; those implementation details remain to be published.
For related diplomatic coverage, read our report on Colombia’s embassy opening in Jerusalem.
