Will Israel downgrade ties with Senegal, NZ…

SUZANNE BELLING

Informed sources close to Israel have intimated this is not the end of the issue. There have been strong indications that Israel is not happy that some of its “friends”, especially in West Africa following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s successful foray to strengthen ties, had voted for the UN resolution, condemning Israeli settlements.

The reports on Senegal and New Zealand suggested that Israel was supposedly downgrading its diplomatic ties with the two countries, as well as keeping travels to a minimum to another 12 countries. All these countries had voted for UN Resolution 2334 that was passed late last year.

In the resolution, the UN Security Council reiterated its demand that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. It refused to recognise any changes to the June 4, 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed to by the two sides through negotiations.

This resolution called for immediate steps to prevent all acts of violence against civilians in Israel and the terroritories, including acts of terror, as well as acts of provocation and destruction. It further called for the strengthening of ongoing efforts to combat terrorism, including through existing security co-ordination, and to clearly condemn all acts of terrorism.

The vote for the resolution was 14-0, with the UK, France, Russia and China inter alia supporting it – and the United States – for the first time – abstaining.

The Security Council called on both sides to observe calm and restraint and to refrain from provocative actions, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric in order to de-escalate the situation on the ground and rebuild trust and confidence.

“There is no decision to downgrade diplomatic relations with Senegal and New Zealand,” Nachshon told the Jewish Report. He insisted the ambassadors – who are in Israel – were purely brought back “to hold consultations with them”. 

The Israeli ambassador to Senegal is South African-born Paul Hirschson, formerly of Johannesburg, who studied at King Edward High School and was a Betar leader in his youth. He obtained a BA degree in law and accounting from the University of the Witwatersrand and graduated from Boston University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

The small Jewish community in this mainly Muslim, West African, country are French Jewish expats, American Jews who work there and Israelis who have married locals.

In contrast, New Zealand has a Jewish population of only 6 867 (2013 census) out of the country’s total population of 4,5 million. The ambassador there is Dr Itzhak Gerberg.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday news reports said the Israeli Ambassador to Egypt David Govrin had returned to Israel over security concerns.

Nachshon told Jewish Report that Govrin had not been recalled (“it has nothing to do with relations with Egypt”) but had been working from Jerusalem as ambassador for the past three months.

The Israeli embassy reopened in Cairo in 2015 after being closed as a result of a mob attack on the diplomatic mission.