Russian Deputy PM: We will continue positive Israel-Russia relations

Following Syria's downing of a Russian intelligence plane in September, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Akimov, who visited Israel on Tuesday, expressed his high hopes in excellent future relations between Russia and Israel. Akimov commented on September's incident in a meeting with Israeli officials in Jerusalem: "In our very complicated and multi-polar world, any two countries that share a relationship may develop different approaches regarding global challenges, and unfortunately there are sometimes incidents"Adding: "But now we feel the good spirit and strong will [of our] leaders to continue both cooperation in the socio-economic sphere and political dialogue [regarding] the resolution of difficult problems in the Middle East.”Akimov participated in the opening ceremony of the Israeli-Russian Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, the chamber will be headed by Russian-Jewish businessman Temor Ben-Yehuda (Khikhinashvili) and Attorney Anna Moshe.“We have high hopes for the future in terms of economic cooperation between Russian and Israel," said Ben-Yehuda. “The trade and commerce bond between Russia and Israel is only growing, because of our shared interests in the region," added Moshe. The event was held at the Biohouse in Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. Kimov stated that the hospital is engaged with various collaborations with Russian medical centers.Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Ze'ev Elkin, who escorted Akimov throughout his political visit, said that he is "certain that we will not only succeed in maintaining the positive atmosphere that improves Israel’s relations with Russia...but we will also succeed in deepening and developing it further in the future.” 
Herb Keinon contributed to this report