By Samuel Success, Reporter
The Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Shimon Ben-Shoshan at a Journalist Round table recently organized by the Embassy of Israel said that they will keep working hard to strengthen the relationship between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the State of Israel. He stated the meeting was primarily put together for the Embassy to show to the Nigerian people what they are doing in order to boost bilateral relations between both Nigeria and Israel.
Ambassador Shimon, who is also the Permanent Representative of Israel to ECOWAS, has served as a Career Diplomat in other continents of the world except Africa, which is his first and last diplomatic mission. His short stay so far in Nigeria has afforded him the opportunity to interact with Nigerians both great and small, he said.
Hence, he expressed that the Nigerian people love Israel. He added where ever he goes to in Nigeria , the mention of his country, Israel, bring smiles on the faces of the man on the street to the high net worth individual, which gladdens his heart.
Economy is the bedrock of Nigerian Israeli Relations. The cooperation is principally focused on Water technology, homeland security and Agriculture. Shimon cited the example of the Israeli Partnership with Osun State on Agriculture. He stressed that the partnership was an exhibition of the Israeli Agric-Technology and not just a project.
Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation (Hebrew acronym: MASHAV ) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responsible for design, coordination and implementation of the State of Israel’s global development and cooperation in developing countries, recently arranged medical outreaches in Taraba state, and free eye treatments were given by Medical personnel from Israel, said the Israeli Envoy.
His Excellency, Ben-Shoshan also disclosed that the Media are his first time visitors and he would love to build good working relationship with the Media. Therefore, it becomes necessary to engage the media to share the goodwill of the Israeli Embassy.
In closing, he announced there will be a celebration of the 71 years independence of the State of Israel on May 21, 2019 at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton. It would be a good way to expose the Israeli cmulture to the Nigerian people, he stated.
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