Issue No. 964
Al-Ahram
On a groundbreaking African Safari, Israeli foreign minister visits key Nile Basin nations and energy-rich West African countries at just the wrong moment for Arabs, writes Gamal Nkrumah
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman flew to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa last Wednesday, 2 September, where he met Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin. Lieberman's visit to Ethiopia, strategically located in the heart of the Horn of Africa, indicates that Israeli interests re-ignite from the embers of African conflicts.
What really transpired during Lieberman's nine-day African tour is not hard to know. The high-profile publicity machine of Lieberman's African tour steamrolled through the continent. Lieberman personifies the triumphalist chauvinism of the current Israeli right- wing government, but in Africa he clearly received the red carpet treatment. In Ethiopia he participated in the inauguration of an important model development project, the Butajira Centre for Excellence, which is a tripartite project between Ethiopia, Israel and the United States. Among the distinguished guests was the outgoing US ambassador to Ethiopia who also doubles as US ambassador to the African Union, headquartered in Addis Ababa, Donald Yamamoto. Also present was Ambassador Haim Divon, head of MASHAV -- Israel's National Agency for International Development Cooperation and the USAID Mission Director for Ethiopia Thomas Staal. MASHAV has emerged as a key instrument of Israeli foreign policy in Africa. Lieberman also met with Ethiopian State Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Abera Deresa and other key Ethiopian officials. The Israeli Ambassador to Ethiopia Oded Ben-Haim stressed Israel's intention of stepping up its agricultural and development collaborative efforts in Ethiopia.
"Lieberman's tour of five key African nations spells disaster for Arab interests on the continent. Israel collaborates closely with the US in Africa and cannot function separately from Washington," explained Professor Sayed Felefel, former director of the University of Cairo's Institute of African Studies.
Felefel told Al-Ahram Weekly that Israel was filling an Arab void in Africa. "Lieberman's African tour was timed deliberately before Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit embarks on his own African tour. Israel is conscious that Egypt has of late become increasingly interested in developing stronger ties with African countries south of the Sahara. Israel therefore is determined to upstage Egypt and sabotage Egyptian efforts."
Horn of Africa politics are getting rockier, and a dangerous vacuum has opened at the heart of this vital albeit impoverished region's political dynamics. "There is growing evidence of Israeli embroilment in the conflict of Darfur," Felefel noted.
A showcase of multi-party democracy and state-building in Africa, Ghana, which Lieberman visited on Monday and Tuesday, was especially important destination for the Israelis. The country's economy is among the fastest growing on the continent and its newfound oil wealth bodes well.
Small wonder then that Lieberman, now in the saddle as Israel's top diplomat, was keynote speaker at an economic forum in Ghana and met Ghanaian President John Atta Mills and Foreign Minister Mohamed Mumuni. Lieberman made it clear that he was well aware that poverty has risen sharply in spite of recent economic growth. As in other countries visited by Lieberman, who was met in the Ghanaian capital Accra by Ghana's Ambassador designate to Israel Hanson Hull, aquaculture is high on the list of priorities as far as bilateral relations are concerned.
In neighbouring Nigeria, Lieberman met his Nigerian counterpart Ojo Maduekwe and Defence Minister Shettima Mustafa. He signed an unprecedented trade agreement with the economic powerhouse of West Africa and the region's dominant military power and main oil exporter.
In the Nigerian capital Abuja, Lieberman also signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding and an international cooperation agreement with the 15-member state Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Even more critical was his stated interest in ECOMOG, the military peacekeeping force of ECOWAS.
Israel's foreign minister stated that he was not in favour of cash handouts, but that he intended to boost trade and economic ties with African countries and hence 20 business leaders accompanied Lieberman on his African tour, the first by an Israeli foreign minister in more than two decades.
Officials from the Ministry of Finance, the minister of defence and the National Security Council also accompanied Lieberman. Serious security problems notwithstanding, West Africa -- thanks to ECOMOG -- has not descended into the anarchy seen in Horn of Africa countries such as Somalia.
The groundbreaking five-nation African tour is aimed at restoring Israeli influence in Africa at a time when China and other Asian emerging economies are busy doing brisk business in Africa. It is, after all, difficult to yield power and influence.
"Lieberman's African tour is designed to whitewash Israel's tarnished image in the world," Secretary- General of the Cairo-based Africa Society Ambassador Ahmed Haggag told the Weekly.
In Kenya on the second leg of his African tour, Lieberman met with President Mwai Kibaki and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka as well as Prime Minister Raila Oginga. Kenyan officials said they are ready to work with Israel in order to achieve food sufficiency "just like Israel which is a net food exporter". Not surprisingly, he also met with Kenya's Minister for Water and Irrigation Charity Kaluki Ngilu.
Israel and Kenya signed an important agreement on water. Kenyan officials dispelled speculation that the agreement was aimed at compromising Egypt's legitimate water security concerns.
Lieberman rounded up his African safari with a trip to Uganda where he met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. In an act replete with symbolism, Lieberman also participated in a memorial ceremony for the fallen victims of the 1976 Entebbe Rescue Operation when an Air France jetliner was hijacked by Palestinians.
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