By Kemo Cham
Israeli’s new ambassador to Sierra Leone has called on the West African nation to reciprocate by at least designating an ambassador to the Jewish State as part of efforts to strengthen ties between the two countries.
Ambassador Roey Gilad, who was speaking after presenting his credentials to President Julius Maada Bio last week, would like to see Sierra Leone opened its embassy in Jerusalem, but he said if that’s not possible now due to the financial cost involved, at least a non-resident ambassador will suffice.
Gilad assumed office as Israel’s resident ambassador to Ghana and accredited to Sierra Leone and Liberia on September 3rd, 2024. He presented his credentials in Liberia in December 2024.
Gilad said he’d waited for a long time to present his credentials in Sierra Leone, which finally happened on Thursday, June 5th. According to a news release from the presidency, the Israeli was one of six new diplomats who presented their credentials at State House in Freetown on the day. The release quoted President Bio reaffirming Sierra Leone’s long-standing and cordial relations with all six countries.
After his credential ceremony, Gilad held brief talks with the President and then several discussions with top government officials.
“One of the things I told the president is that currently Sierra Leone doesn’t have an embassy accredited to Israel, unlike Israel,” he told ManoReporters as part of an interview with a small group of independent journalists.
“I think if there is somebody to represent the interest of Sierra Leone in Jerusalem, it will help us enhance the efforts,” he added in the interview conducted at his hotel in Freetown.
The Israeli ambassador said that as a non-resident ambassador, there was a limit to what he could do and that his efforts could be doubled with a Sierra Leonean diplomat close to power in Jerusalem.
Gilad’s call seems to be a reminder to a promise made by President Bio nearly two years ago. In a telephone call with former Israeli Foreign Minister (now Energy Minister) Eli Cohen in August 2023, Bio promised to establish Sierra Leone’s embassy in Jerusalem, according to reports in the Israeli media.
In a post on the social media platform X, Bio confirmed speaking to Cohen, although the post didn’t mention establishment of an embassy.
Israel considers Jerusalem to be its eternal capital, including East Jerusalem, which it annexed in 1980. That move is opposed by most of the international community, who insist that the final borders of the biblical city at the center of the conflict between Israel and Palestine should be decided in negotiations.
Most of the nearly 100 countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Israel have their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Ambassador Gilad spoke on a wide ranging issues in the interview, all geared towards strengthen ties between the two countries and supporting Sierra Leone’s development. He also spoke about the possibility to provide scholarship for young Sierra Leoneans to study in Israel.
Diplomatic relations between Israel and Sierra Leone dates back to 1961, when Sierra Leone gained independence. The ties were however suspended in 1973 along with several African nations after the then Organization of African Unity ordered its member countries to break ties with Israel in response to the Yom Kippur War.
Ties were again re-established between the two countries in 1992. But since then, neither country has had an embassy in the other country.
Israel has however always had its embassy in Senegal and later Ghana accredited to Sierra Leone.
Through this relationship, Israel has provided several development assistance to Sierra Leone, notably the construction of the current Parliament building on Tower Hill. Israel has also provided help in the health sector, especially with the only dialysis center available in a public health facility in the country – which is located in main referral hospital – Connaught.
said in August 2023 that Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio
promised to open an embassy of Sierra Leone in Jerusalem.
Image, The Times of Israel.
Relations between Sierra Leone and Israel furthered improved when former President Ernest Bai Koroma visited Israel in 2017 and met with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Water, communications, energy and security were on the agenda of the discussions Koroma held with Israeli officials.
Ambassador Gilad hopes to advance these existing ties through any form of support Israeli can offer in line with the Sierra Leone government’s development priorities. However, he warned that Israel’s involvement in its ongoing war in Gaza makes things a little bit complicated.
Gilad, a career diplomat with over 30 years diplomatic experience in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, trained as a cadet officer in the Israeli Defense Forces. His first diplomatic posting was in Nairobi, Kenya where he served as the Second Secretary between 1991 and 1994. Since then, he has served in many countries across the world, including in Jordan, which he described as the peak of his career.
Gilad, in the interview, spoke on diverse issues, from regional and global security, to potential collaboration with Sierra Leone in the areas including digital technology, cybersecurity, agriculture and fisheries.
“We will be willing to cooperate with Sierra Leone…The sky is the limit,” he said.
But in return for all these, what does Israel expect from Sierra Leone?
Gilad said Israel hopes for Sierra Leone’s support as a member of the United Nations Security Country.
Sierra Leone is currently serving on the non-permanent category of the influential UN organ for a two-year period that ends in December 2025. The Sierra Leonean delegation to the UN has consistently condemned Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
While acknowledging that Sierra Leone hasn’t been as supportive to Israel as the US delegation, Gilad said he was appreciative of the fact that the Sierra Leonean delegation has at least been speaking out for the release of the Israeli hostages in the hands of the Gaza based militant group – Hamas. And he wants this to continue.
“I cannot say they are as supportive as the American delegation…I don’t think we are expecting that…,” he said, adding: “I hope that for the next six months that are left for Sierra Leone to be a member of the Security Council, Israeli’s security interest and the 56 Israeli hostages will still be high on your agenda because I know that the security of Israel is important to Sierra Leone.
“We might have some differences, we might have some conflicts, but I am sure that just as the security of Sierra Leone is important to Israel, so is the security of Israel and the stability and the wellbeing of the Jews state…is important to the government and the people of Sierra Leone.”
