JERUSALEM (EJP)—Israel and Senegal have ended a diplomatic rift which resulted from the African country’s support for a UN Security Council resolution on the Israeli settlements last December.
The Israeli ambassador to Senegal will return to his post after he was recalled last year following the vote of the UN resolution.
Senegal, New Zealand, Malaysia and Venezuela, sponsored last December’s Security Council resolution. As a result of this vote Netanyahu recalled the envoys to Senegal and New Zealand. Israel has no diplomatic ties with Malaysia and Venezuela.
The resolution passed in the 15-member Security Council because the United States, under the administration of former president Barack Obama, broke with its long-standing approach of diplomatically shielding Israel and did not wield its veto power, instead abstaining.
The announcement of the end of the diplomatic tension with Dakar was made after a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Senegalese President Macky Sall on the sidelines of an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) summit meeting in Liberia.
Netanyahu addressed ECOWAS as a guest speaker on Sunday and met several African leaders, including Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the president of Mali, a Muslim state with whom Israel has no diplomatic relations.
A statement from Netanyahu’s office said Senegal had agreed to support Israel’s candidacy to become an observer nation at the Organisation of African Unity. The two states also agreed to resume joint projects and cooperation in security and agriculture, the statement added.
Senegal, New Zealand, Malaysia and Venezuela, sponsored last December’s Security Council resolution. As a result of this vote Netanyahu recalled the envoys to Senegal and New Zealand. Israel has no diplomatic ties with Malaysia and Venezuela.
The resolution passed in the 15-member Security Council because the United States, under the administration of former president Barack Obama, broke with its long-standing approach of diplomatically shielding Israel and did not wield its veto power, instead abstaining.
At the conference Netanyahu also met with the Presidents of Gambia, Ghana and Togo. King Mohammed VI of Morocco cancelled his planned participation in the conference because the Israeli Prime Minister was due to attend.
Netanyahu said that Africa was a “continent on the rise” and that he had “made strengthening our relations one of our top priorities”. Israel and the countries of ECOWAS are currently in advanced stages of cooperation on joint projects in agriculture, energy, and education, and Netanyahu emphasised Israel’s role as a world leader in technology in calling for more partnership.
Netanyahu has now visited Africa twice in a year. He is also scheduled to attend a summit in Togo in October, which is expected to include leaders from 25 African countries.