A visit to Israel, which was planned for next week, by Georgian Parliamentary Chairman, Davit Bakradze, has been postponed, his spokesperson confirmed on Friday.

Israeli media reported on March 10, that Reuven Rivlin, speaker of the Israeli parliament, Knesset, asked his Georgian counterpart to delay the visit, citing “internal and external political circumstances”, as well as partly because of the case of two Israeli businessmen, who are detained in Georgia over bribery charges and whose case is currently on trial in the Tbilisi City Court.

Maka Gigauri, the parliamentary chairman’s spokesperson, said that the reason for the visit’s postponement was only related to Israel’s internal and external political issues.

“Georgian embassy in Israel was contacted by the Israeli Knesset to request postponement of the visit; two reasons behind this request have been named: debates on internal political issues planned for next week [in Knesset] and planned talks with the Palestinian side; these are the reasons behind postponement of the visit,” Gigauri said, adding that there was nothing special or surprising in the postponement of the visit.

“We have friendly relations with Israel and serious investments continue coming from Israel and it has further activated recently,” Giorgi Baramidze, the Georgian deputy PM and state minister for Euro-Atlantic integration, told journalists when asked on the matter on March 11.

“Some businessmen may be influential with connections including in the Parliament, but when one offers bribe a high-ranking official it is illegal and naturally the law enforcement agencies should act appropriately,” he added.