first nations to recognise Israel as independent. Venezuela Relations were once strong, but the bilateral ties soured under the Presidency of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela. The Jewish population in Venezuela, which peaked at 45,000, is now below 15,000 "as a result of severe instability in the country", according to the Israeli Stephen Roth Institute. The Miami Herald, Jewish Times, and Jewish organizations have reported large-scale emigration of Jewish people from Venezuela during the Chávez administration.Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County. JCRC expresses concern with Venezuelan unrest. Retrieved 11 August 2006. As a result of the June/July 2006 battles in the Gaza Strip, Venezuela withdrew its ambassador to Israel. Following the Israeli attack on Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009, Venezuela cut its diplomatic ties with Israel. Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez called the attack "genocidal", and urged that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert be tried for war crimes. Israeli foreign aid Israeli foreign aid comprises primarily development assistance and humanitarian aid provided by Israel to foreign countries. Israel provides assistance to developing countries to alleviate and solve economic and social problems through its international cooperation program of technical assistance, based on its own recent and ongoing experience in developing human and material resources. Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation, established as an agency of the Israeli Foreign Ministry in 1958 and known by its Hebrew acronym, MASHAV, is the primary vehicle for providing this aid. Israel has provided humanitarian assistance to developing countries in Asia, Africa, South America, Oceania, and Central Europe through the activities of Mashav, with the goal to give developing countries the knowledge, tools, and expertise that Israel gained in its own development, and its ability to "make the desert flourish". This center trains course participants from approximately 140 countries on healthcare, as well as emergency and disaster medicine, and has participated in dozens of projects worldwide in fields economic fields such as agriculture, education, development, employment, and healthcare, as well as humanitarian fields such as disaster relief, reconstruction, and refugee absorption. In the 1970s, Israel broadened its aid agenda by granting safe haven to refugees and foreign nationals in distress from around the world. Since the 1980s, Israel has also provided humanitarian aid to places affected by natural disasters and terrorist attacks. In 1995, the Israeli Foreign Ministry and Israel Defense Forces established a permanent humanitarian and emergency aid unit, which has carried out humanitarian operations