as Venezuela's Ambassador to Israel from 1992 to 1995. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres visited Caracas in January 1995, during the second Caldera administration, to "cement ties with friendly countries, and to deepen cooperation in areas of mutual benefit". Venezuela's Foreign Minister noted that "The reception that was given for Foreign Minister Peres was unprecedented." Recent relations In 2005, the Executive Director of the American Jewish Committee reported "an active Israeli embassy in Caracas and modest but growing bilateral trade." 2005 F-16 deal In 2005, Israel had an agreement with Venezuela to service and upgrade its U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets, but the Sharon administration angered the U.S. State Department when it sold aerial drones to China. In October 2005, the State Department prevented the Israeli-Venezuelan F-16 deal by refusing to grant export licensing approval to the Israeli government. JINSA reported that the State Department "request[ed]" the Israeli government end all military contracts with Venezuela that involved U.S.-derived technology and refrain from future sales of Israeli military technology to Venezuela. 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict In response to the Israeli airstrike of Qana, on July 31, Vice President José Vicente Rangel said, "This murder of dozens of women and children has no justification whatsoever. The UN and other powerful nations shared blame for the attack because they had responded to Israel's military campaign in Palestine and Lebanon with silence and omissions. Venezuela has never had any anti-Jewish attitudes, recognizes the existence of Israel as a state, welcomes the Jewish community and guarantees its total respect." Al Jazeera's Dima Khatib, reported that Chávez was the first head of state to harshly condemn Israel over the Israeli-Lebanon conflict, even before any Arab or Muslim country. On August 3, 2006 Chávez ordered the Venezuelan charge d'affaires to Israel to return from Tel Aviv to Caracas, protesting the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. According to The Miami Herald, two days later, on his Sunday radio program, "Aló Presidente" ("Hello President"), Chávez accused Israel of "going mad and inflicting on the people of Palestine and Lebanon the same thing they have criticized, and with reason: the Holocaust. But this is a new Holocaust" with the help of the United States, which he described as a terrorist country. He went on to say that the United States refuses "to allow the [U.N.] Security Council to make a decision to halt the genocide Israel is committing against the Palestinian and Lebanese people".