Welcome to the celebration of the 70th Independence Day of the State of Israel. I would like to mention that the number 70 is a bit misleading; it shows only the number of years for the re-establishment of the State of Israel after many years of exile. It is well known that Israel is a very ancient nation and this fact has been well documented over 3 and half thousand years. Our independence goes over 3000 years ago and continued with some interruption for 1000 years. In the year 135AD we lost our independent completely, but even during the long diaspora, there were always Jewish communities living in the land of Israel. Moreover, the people of Israel never forgot their homeland and always prayed to return to Jerusalem. For example, at every Jewish wedding ceremony, the groom would quote Psalm 137:5: "If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!" The prayers kept the original language of the people of Israel, the language of the Old Testament – which is Hebrew.
Israel's prayers were answered, and the hope of two thousand years was fulfilled. In the second half of the 19th century, among other Nationalist Movements in Europe, the Zionist Movement arose. The Land of Israel was then ruled by the Ottoman Empire and was poor, neglected and desolate. The Jews who returned to their homeland made it blossom. The Jewish national aspirations were recognized by the UK in 1917 when its Foreign Minister Lord Balfour announced in a letter to Lord Rotchild that “His Majesty’s government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” The British Mandate era was used by the Jewish people to build up the foundation for the establishment, later on, of the State of Israel. On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly decided to end the British Mandate and to establish two states – one Jewish and one Arab. The Jews accepted this resolution and went out to dance in the streets while the Arabs, known today as the Palestinians, opened a war against the Jewish people.
As we all know, the war ended with an Israeli victory. The young state absorbed hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees from Europe and from Arab states. The beginning was difficult, given that the security challenges were not over. Acts of terror against Israel took place routinely. The peak was in 1967, when three Arab countries bordering Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria to which joined also Iraq declared war on Israel. Miraculously, within 6 days, the war was over, ones again, with an Israeli victory. The many wars did not lead to desperation, but rather to hope. The will to reach peace with the Arab states just grew and begun to materialize. In 1979 a peace treaty was achieved with Egypt and in 1994 with Jordan. These agreements brought up collaborations in many fields to the benefits of all sides. The Israeli hope is to reach peace with the other states as well.
The security challenges, forced the State of Israel to invest in research and development in security and defense. It was also clear that the State of Israel has to ensure an independent food producing for its citizens, in spite of the fact, that about 50% of the land of Israel is a desert.
Many resources were invested in developing of the agriculture sector. In addition, advanced technologies in water treatment were developed such as, drip irrigation, recycling of sewage water, water purification and sea water desalination.
Israel became a world class leader, in many fields. Especially noteworthy is its Cyber Technology. Today, the small state of Israel provides around 20% of the global Cyber defense systems. The State of Israel has managed to change within 70 years from a country that mainly focused on export of oranges to a Silicon Valley - a country that exports technological innovations. The state of Israel has become synonymous with quality. Israeli businesses many of which operate in Ghana would be happy to share with Ghana the Israeli Technological abilities for the benefit of the whole Ghanaian population.
The Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is determined to strengthen and cultivate Israel relations with Africa. One of the peaks of this process is the ECOWAS Summit in Liberia on 4th June 2017. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared in his speech that 'Israel is coming back to Africa, and Africa is coming back to Israel'. Israel-Ghana relations play an important role in this trend.
Israel and Ghana have a long-term partnership and friendship. It started right from the beginning when independent Ghana was the first Sub-Saharan African country that recognized the state of Israel. The young state of Israel, which was earlier under the British Mandate showed a lot of solidarity with the African countries which were liberated from the chains of colonialism at that time and. That led a flourishing cooperation between the two countries. In 1994 Israel-Ghana relations were renewed and were boosted in 2011 with the opening of an Israeli Embassy in Accra. In 2016, we inaugurated Ghana Israel Business Chambers headed by Tobe Afede XIV and its Patron being Archbishop Nickolas Duncan Williams. That achievement paved the way to open a Commercial Division in the Israeli Embassy in the upcoming summer. We hope that it will promote and deepen the economic relations between us.
Many citizens of Ghana have visited important technological exhibitions in Israel like Cybertech and Watec and in the near future, Agritech, Biomed, and others. Israel Ghana corporation have also resulted in projects like the University of Ghana medical Centre, the 3K Water Project, the Accra Tema Metropolitan Area Rural Water Rehabilitation Project and the Prabon Greenfields Estates – Kumasi and there are more to come. Israel's well-known Agency for International Development Cooperation, MASHAV has operated countless successful long-lasting projects of cooperation in different areas such as health, education, agriculture and more.
The visits of many Ghanaian Ministers over the last one and a half years have promoted future collaboration in various domains. We are expecting more official visits soon and I am sure that they will bring up fruitful results.
I am pleased to conclude that Israel – Ghana relations are continuing to develop and bloom. On Israel's 70th Independence Day, we wish all peace and prosperity and pray that "He who makes peace on high, may He bring peace upon us and upon all of Israel and humanity, and let us say, Amen!"
"עושה שלום במרומיו, הוא יעשה שלום עלינו ועל כל ישראל ועל כל יושבי תבל ואמרו, אמן!"
Long Live Ghana! Long live Israel! Long live Israel - Ghana's relations!