Ghana, Israel to strengthen bilateral relationship

The Ambassador of Israel to Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone , Mr Roey Gilad, says he expects the bilateral relationship between Ghana and Israel to be strengthened under the administration of the President-elect, Mr John Dramani Mahama.

He explained that although Israel was happy with the relationship between two countries over the years, there was still more room for improvement.

“The relationship between the two countries has been very warm since the establishment of Ghana as a sovereign independent state in 1957, and I think it is the best models of relationships we have with any African country.
“We have been enjoying here a very strong popular support in the churches, universities, markets, and streets. However, this support does not always reflect in the way Ghana votes in international forums.
So, I think there is some room for improvement,”Mr Gilad said.

The Ambassador was speaking at the end-of-year gathering of MASHAV alumni held in Accra on Thursday.

MASHAV is an Israeli Agency for International Development Corporation at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, established in 1958 to offer assistance to fellow nations to overcome development challenges by sharing knowledge and technologies, which provide the basis for Israel’s own development.

According to Mr Gilad, Israel was happy to share its experiences in various fields such as disaster management, food security, agriculture, and climate change, among others, with Ghana through MASHAV’s development corporation programmes.

He urged Ghanaian alumni of MASHAV corporation programmes to make an impact in their communities and the country as a whole by applying the knowledge obtained from MASHAV in those communities.

Although the MASHAV programme faced some challenges this year due to the difficulties Israel was going through as a result of the Gaza war, Mr Gilad was optimistic about its prospect in subsequent years, adding that, “Ghana will still be our central place of investment in capacity building.”

He called for more support from Ghana in international forums and for the country to inspire other African countries to understand the challenges Israel faced. Also, he urged Ghanaians, including MASHAV alumni, to make their voice heard in their support to Israel on all social media platforms.

Providing an update of MASHAV activities over the past three years, the MASHAV Coordinator, Ms Gloria Amoo, said the registered alumni base of the MASHAV programme had increased by 140 since 2021.

Ms Amoo noted that seven MASHAV courses were cancelled last year due to the Gaza war, which she said was unfortunate and a big blow to the MASHAV office.

There were also presentations on disaster management, community resilience, and intensive fish farming by MASHAV alumni and how they were impacting their communities through the application of the knowledge obtained in those areas.

The MASHAV alumni presenters were Dr Ernest Asiedu, Health and Pandemics Analyst, National Centre for Coordination of Early Warning and Response Mechanism, and Rev. Dr. Ebenezer Tetteh Kpalam, Pentecost University.

Mr Peter Fofie Junior, NADMO Zonal Coordinator for Adjabeng in the Korley Klottey Municipal Assembly and Dr Kwadwo Kesse Mireku, Lecturer of Aquaculture, aquatic environmental science, University of Cape Coast were the other presenters.

BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY

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