The Ambassador, his wife and their guests after the engagement
The Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia, Roey Gilad, has expressed the disappointment over Ghana’s vote abstinence in Vienna yesterday over whether or not Iran was complying with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standards.
Speaking to selected editors during a breakfast engagement, he said even though Israel respects the sovereignty of Ghana and her non-aligned status, he nonetheless called for a rethink about this policy.
The two countries have a long-standing relationship spanning the time of independence to date, but Ghana in spite of lobbying Israel to vote in her favour decided to abstain.
Ghana’s position on the subject, according to him, is influenced by the African Union (AU), the Union itself shaped by the Arab League.
It would be better to be balanced in such international issues, he said, adding that Ghana should adopt a foreign policy that would be independent of the AU and the Non-Aligned Movement since the world is changing.
The foregone notwithstanding, the envoy said this is a sovereign decision.
Ghana, he went on, is the friendliest in Africa to Israel, pointing out that the issue of non-compliance with the International Atomic Energy Agency standard for Iran is of serious concern to Israel.
Continuing, he said that Iran poses an existential threat to Israel, and so this is not an issue the country should abstain from voting.
Explaining, he said it is not compulsory for a chair to abstain from voting as Ghana did in Vienna, Austria recently. “I don’t know whether this serves the best interest for Ghana,” he said.
Ghana over the years has benefited from Israel in the field of agriculture, he said.
Israel, according to his observation, has enjoyed a lot of admiration among Ghanaians as evidenced at Makola.
At the Accra Beach, he said, fishermen have the Israeli flag on their canoes, but this does not reflect on the international scene.
On Gaza, he pointed at a growing resentment of the Palestinians against Hamas, who they believe is the cause of their predicament.
Palestinians, he added, want Hamas to leave Gaza and go wherever they want.
The IAEA declared on Thursday that Iran was not complying with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations, the first time the United Nations (UN) watchdog has passed a resolution against the country in 20 years.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry and National Atomic Energy Agency issued a joint statement condemning the vote, calling it political and saying the resolution had “completely called into question the credibility and prestige” of the nuclear watchdog.