Israeli alternate Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid arrives to attend the first weekly cabinet meeting of the new government in Jerusalem June 20, 2021. Emmanuel Dunand/Pool via REUTERS

A high-profile French diplomatic delegation will visit Israel next week to meet with the country’s new government to advance ties between the two countries and discuss shared interests between the Jewish state and Europe.

The mission of some 40 French lawmakers, which will arrive on July 19 for a three-day tour, is the largest diplomatic group to visit Israel since the coronavirus outbreak. More than half of the French parliamentarians will be setting foot in Israel for the first time.

The visit comes after the first official visit of Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Brussels, where he met with France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on July 12 and vowed to open a new chapter in Europe-Israel relations.

“France is an old friend of Israel and we wish to strengthen and further deepen the alliance between our two countries,” Lapid tweeted following the meeting. “We also talked about the importance of the European Union and Israel’s willingness to maintain a constructive dialogue with the EU on all subjects.”

The delegation will be hosted by ELNET — an NGO focused on developing Europe-Israel ties — together with Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The French group is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, President Isaac Herzog, Opposition Leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu, Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee MK Ram Ben-Barak, and Knesset Speaker MK Mickey Levy, among others.

As part of the trip, the French parliamentarians will travel to Israel’s southern border with Gaza to observe the situation on the ground following the latest round of clashes with the Hamas terror organization, learn about Israel’s Iron Dome defense system, and meet with residents of the southern city of Sderot to hear about their personal experience of living under rocket attacks.

Additionally, the delegation will visit the Knesset and discuss Israel’s coronavirus vaccination strategy with Prof. Ran Balicer, chairman of the government’s advisory committee panel on COVID-19.

Jonathan-Simon Sellem — a journalist and an elected representative of French living in Israel — argued that while the meetings would be friendly, they do not signal any material change in French policy toward Israel.

“France and Israel are sharing the same values, fighting terror, sharing information, and are big business partners, but French interest is most of the time in the Arab world,” he told The Algemeiner. “France goes where their clients are — France is looking to Qatar, or is looking at the possible markets to take in Iran; but not in Israel.”