Gambia, Israel relation promising

By Pa Modou Cham

The ambassador of Israel to Senegal overseeing The Gambia Ambassador Roi Rosenblit has disclosed that the relationship between The Gambia and Israel have been existing since 1966, adding that its promising.

The ambassador was speaking yesterday at their 71^st independence anniversary and the opening of an Exhibition “First Diplomatic Steps between The Gambia and Israel since 1962-1966, held at the Gambia National Museum in Banjul.

The ambassador explained that “The idea of settling conflicts between peoples by peaceful means applies to all countries, in the Middle East as in Vietnam” said former Prime Minister of the Gambia, Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara in Jerusalem after signing an agreement of friendship between the Gambia and Israel on October 1966.

He said that was Sir Dawda’s third visit to Jerusalem, saying “the visit in 1962 and 1965, he met our Presidents, our Prime Ministers David Ben Gurion and Levy Eshkol, Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan and others. In his first visit, in 1962, three years before independence, the first agreement on cooperation was signed between the countries. Other agreements signed included cooperation in healthcare, agriculture and scholarships for Gambian students to study in Israel.”

Roi honored a visit to Sir Dawda and emphasized how much he cherishes the strong friendship between our two peoples.

He reiterated that in 2019, the two governments are revitalizing these old agreements and reviving this ongoing friendship. He added that President Barrow told him how much he appreciated his meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu two years ago.

The pointed that Gambian Minister of Education Claudiana Cole, Lord Mayor of Banjul Rohey Lowe and other officials visited Israel for high level seminars, adding that others are in Israel as he spoke.

“In Mansa-Konko, children are getting better education while playing football, thanks to an idea adopted by Gambia’s Omar Keita while training in Israel. Soon, thanks to Professor Baba Tunde and Lamine Jatta of the University of the Gambia, 10 Gambian experts in agriculture will go to Israel for a year to “learning by doing” program,” he said.

He further explained that when Professor Ceesay reached out to him with rare and unique photographs representing the history of our two nations, he said he was fascinated by the opportunity.

The exhibition is about beginnings and baby steps, he said, continuing that two young countries and two peoples seeking to share knowledge and to make the world better.