The Israeli Ambassador to Senegal accredited to Sierra Leone Gideon Behar has presented his credentials to President Koroma and has assured him of Israel’s bilateral ties in development and culture between the two countries.
This has now prompted the President to open Sierra Leone’s Embassy in Israel very soon.
The modalities are now in place for Sierra Leone to get the building and local staff which would make it very easy for the staff leaving Freetown.
The Israeli government has agreed to take care of all expenditure pertaining to the Embassy for the first year. Also they have already put in place a massive investment package for Sierra Leone.
It could be recalled that Israel was very active in our development before 1973 when they were kicked out of Africa after a resolution taken by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in support of Egypt.
During their time in Sierra Leone, they built Parliament, Bank of Sierra Leone, Post Office and the Ministerial building.
Parliament was not finished at the time of their departure and people are hoping on their return they might try to upgrade its standard.
Israel’s help to Africa was prompted by the visit of Golda Meir who was the first Foreign Minister in 1957; she saw the suffering of Africans in the hands of colonial leaders and resolved to help them gain their independence.
Israel brought to us a free gift when the department of MASHAV was established to train thousands of Africans in different fields. Israel believes in knowledge to the people that is why they are coming again to help us build a better country.
President Ernest Koroma has accepted the Israeli proposal and very soon will be appointing an Ambassador to Israel with staff to start work.
Also the Israelis have already started giving scholarships to Sierra Leone and they intend to do journalism training with SLAJ in the country soon. They also intend to give more scholarships in the near future.
These projects would be done with the Sierra Leone Israeli Friendship Society as they have been working assiduously to make this venture a reality.
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