Germany is to offer Israeli citizens consular assistance in states such as Indonesia or Malaysia where Israel has no official diplomatic representation, Reuters reported on Friday.

The new deal is expected to be signed by Chancellor Angela Merkel when she visits Jerusalem next week.

Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Yakov Hadas-Handelsman, said the offer was “a special message” from Germany and underscored the importance of relations between the two countries.

Merkel travels to Jerusalem on Monday with her cabinet for consultations between the two governments. Several weeks ago Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu formally invited Merkel to Israel.

Germany and Israel have held regular government consultations since 2008, an arrangement where the two sides meet at regular intervals to discuss specific topics.

This will be the fifth such meeting between Germany and Israel. The last one was held in Berlin in December 2012 and during that meeting, Merkel and Netanyahu “agreed to disagree” over Israeli construction in areas the Palestinian Authority (PA) claims for a future state.

On Thursday it was reported that during her visit, President Shimon Peres will award Merkel with the Presidential Medal of Distinction, Israel’s highest civilian honor.