Israel's Relations With Ghana Is Natural – Ambassador Bar-Li

The diplomatic relations between Ghana and Israel shall continue to thrive and transform Ghana's abundant and untapped natural resources to improve the quality of life of the people.

Ambassador Sharon Bar-Li, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said the relations began in 1958, when the Israeli Premier, David Ben Gurion, sent a Piper Cub plane as a personal gift to President Kwame Nkrumah on the occasion of Ghana's first independence anniversary.

Madam Bar-Li said the gift marked the beginning of Ghana and Israel relations that subsequently, followed with the training of agricultural experts and the establishment of a labour brigade.

This relation, she said, resulted in the sharing of unparalleled Israeli expertise in Agricultural Engineering with Ghana, and many students were sent to Israel to study agricultural programmes.

She said it was natural that Israel, after rising from poverty with a lot of experience, understood the plight of other developing nations, and that Israel felt the responsibility to share with these nations its experience and expertise to transform their economies.

The Ambassador said that through creativity, determination and innovation, Israel was able to take advantage of its human resource to transform infertile and rocky land into an arable one.

She said since January, about 100 Ghanaians had been sent to Israel to be trained in various fields, including studies in post-harvest loses, early childhood education, emergency medicines, irrigation, and climate change.

Madam Bar-Li said the Childhood Education Programme, which started in Kumasi in about 30 schools, with over 100 teachers participating, had been scaled up in Accra with the intention of expanding it further to Tamale.

The Early Childhood Development Programme is being implemented by the Israeli Development Agency, MASHAV, which is working with the government to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

The Ambassador said Israel was also working with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and German Development Agency to improve the yield and quality of citrus in Ghana.

She said an Israeli company would also be constructing a state-of-the-art 600-bed teaching hospital at the University of Ghana, Legon, which is being financed by Israel's leading bank, Bank Hapoalim, with the Sheeba Medical Centre involved in the training of health personnel.

She said, through mutual high-level visits, joint ventures, economic fairs, and exhibitions, and through the encouragement of governmental, as well as private sector and people-to-people relations, Israeli-Ghanaian diplomatic relations is expected to be sustained.

Madam Sharon Bar-Li said Ghana could count on Israel in times of difficultie, as was demonstrated during the Melcom disaster last November, when an Israeli team, consisting of disaster management experts, medical doctors with trauma expertise, and rescue specialists assisted Ghana in the rescue operation.

She said Israel would always count on Ghana in hard times, and commended Ghana's military contribution to the United Nations Interim Force in the quest for lasting peace in South Lebanon.

In April 1959, Israel, with help from India, supervised the establishment of the Ghana Air Force, while a small Israeli team also trained aircraft maintenance personnel and radio technicians at the Accra-based Air Force Trade Training School.

Although the British persuaded Dr. Nkrumah to withdraw Israeli advisers in 1960, Ghanaian pilots continued to receive some training at aviation schools in Israel.

In 2011, Israel officially reopened its embassy in Ghana, which was historically the first African state to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.

In another development, Mr. Gene A. Cretz, United States Ambassador, has expressed his country's commitment to facilitate the socio-economic development of Ghana.

He said America had a special role to play across the world, in the area of development, and Ghana would have its fair share.

Mr. Cretz was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) during the swearing-in ceremony of US health volunteers, organised by the Ghana Peace Corps at Addo-Nkwanta in the East Akyem Municipality of the Eastern Region.

He said: 'The health volunteers are going to be scattered in all the regions in Ghana, especially, the rural areas, to offer vital health assistance and health development in those areas.'

Mr. Simon Peter Asirifi, Municipal Chief Executive, asked the health volunteers to be role models to the youth, and live above reproach.

He also implored them to bring their expertise to bear in the localities they would be posted to.

'Let it be that at the end of your two-year interaction with the people, your satisfaction will be that you have imparted your skills to the people, as well as knowledge and attitudes that will make them self-reliant and better than you came to meet them,' he stressed. Source: GNA