Outgoing Israeli Ambassador Oded Joseph says African countries opposed to Israel's admission as an AU observer state over Palestine are needlessly mixing continental diplomacy with foreign geopolitics.
Israel was admitted on July 22 after lobbying for 20 years. Some countries say the decision was unprocedural, others cite Israel's occupation of Palestine.
When this concern was put to Ambassador Joseph in an interview with the Star, he said, "So how does that help? How did the absence of Israel in the AU assist the Palestinian issue? The Palestinian issue is in our interest to solve and to find a way to find a sustainable solution to."
He said neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians are going anywhere, and they do not need encouragement from others.
"But if there are countries who want to encourage us, the way to do it is by engaging with us," he said.
"So I do not understand the logic of those countries, mainly two, saying that preventing Israel to be a part of the African Union as an observer helps the Palestinian cause."
Joseph has been in Kenya and the region for two years. The envoy said the admission to observer status is a demonstration of the good relations between Africa and Israel.
"There is one country or two that are, for some reason I can't understand, trying to lead a negative tone on this initiative," Joseph said.
"When I analyse the positions of our friends in Africa, I think they all agree with us that receiving the observer status of the AU is a natural step that illustrates more than anything else the good relations Israel has developed with all African countries."
Amb Joseph said Israel presented its credentials to the AU after a decision of the chairman of the Commission, Moussa Faki, who consulted member countries.
"And the vast majority of countries in Africa thought it's good and right," said Joseph, who has been appointed deputy director-general and head of Middle East Division at the Israeli Foreign Affairs ministry.
"And I think it's been a natural step because we have been saying Africa is back to us and Israel is back to Africa."
Among the leading states opposed to the move are members of the Southern African Development Community, including South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.
Seven Arab countries also submitted their objection to the action by Faki. They are Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania and Tunisia.
They argue the move “is unacceptable at the discretion of the President of the Commission”, adding that it is a “procedural and political violation and a violation of the criteria for granting the observer status”.
During the 41st Ordinary SADC Summit, the leaders objected to the "unilateral decision taken by the African Union Commission". They have previously rejected Israel’s applications.
South Africa, Namibia and Algeria cite Israel's occupation of Palestine.
I do not understand the logic of those countries saying that preventing Israel to be a part of the African Union as an observer helps the Palestinian cause
Faki has defended the move, saying he made the decision on the basis of recognition of Israel, the restoration of diplomatic relations with more than two-thirds of AU states, and the demands of many countries.
He, however, said the matter will be discussed in the next session of the Executive Council following reservations by "a few member states".
Joseph said he believes Israel friends in Africa will support them at the next session of the Executive Council.
He said the observer status will allow both parties to engage in projects and spheres of cooperation at regional and continent levels.
"That has a lot of advantages because many of the issues we are discussing, such as security challenges, counterterrorism, the pandemic now of Covid-19 and regional development, need the cooperation of more than one country," he said.
The envoy also reviewed his two-year tour of duty.
The Star: Most of the two years of your tour of duty has been under Covid-19. What were you able to achieve?
Amb Oded Joseph: One of the main successes we have seen is the intensification of the engagement between our two governments and peoples. It was difficult to have physical visits, but we still maintained good engagements.
Recently, we held a political dialogue headed by Foreign Affairs PS Macharia Kamau from the Kenyan side and from our side, the director general.
When we went through the agenda and the level of cooperation, we agreed we should define our ties as special relations. Being here for two years, I realise how important these relations are, which began before Kenya’s full independence. The extent and the level of our friendship and partnership are growing all the time.
The former ambassador expressed dissatisfaction with how the Kenyan government handled Galana Kulalu, the Jubilee flagship food security project. Did you make headway during your tenure?
Anyone who looks into the details of what happened in Galana Kulalu would find it was a success story from the perspective of utilising Israeli technologies and expertise.
What Israeli expertise and technologies managed to do in this model farm was tremendous, basically increasing the volume of the maize four times than the average today in Kenya’s arid areas. But unfortunately, there was some misunderstanding or open issues between the partners.
I have proposed a way forward on how to learn from the success and mistakes to turn the model farm into a national-level food security project that meets the vision of the President on food security.
And if I'm honest, we have not made the breakthrough in terms of getting the opinion and the position of the Kenyan side on the way forward. So, it's still pending.
If there was one thing that I was hoping to do before I leave, it is to make sure we have a good understanding of how the Kenyan government wishes to treat or to comment on our proposal.
In that case, any other agriculture engagements in Kenya?
We have not stayed idle. We have at least two other programmes. One is an agriculture innovation and technology centre in Embu county. We signed the MoU a few months back and the feasibility study group has arrived on the ground, and we are beginning the implementation. It will bring in Israeli technologies and startups in agribusiness in the centre, and they will be adapted to the unique circumstances of Kenya.
This will be for the benefit of the Don Bosco School, the people of Embu and the surrounding counties. Another component of the centre will be capacity building for agriculture students in Embu.
We have another initiative that relates to our alumni of the 11-month programme in Israel. We are focused not only on what happens with these youngsters when they arrive in Israel but also when they come back. We have joined forces with Family Bank, AGW and with four counties to build up a concept whereby these youngsters could become successful entrepreneurs in Kenya.
In the health sector and in the context of the pandemic, what have been your areas of engagement with Kenya?
On health, we have been exchanging views, Covid-19 response strategies and technologies. The health sector was important.
In regards to the vaccination, the companies we approached for our vaccines did not enable us to export. Our cooperation was largely on views and strategies. We hope that when we develop our own vaccines, we will produce enough for ourselves and export.
What is the status of bilateral trade?
I'm proud of the activity of our trade office here, which is working hard to increase the volume of trade. We are far from meeting the potential, Covid-19 slowed us a bit, but still, we've managed to do a lot. The volume of trade at the moment is slightly less than $100 million, but it's far from meeting the potential.
There is always a trade imbalance between developed and developing economies. Any efforts to facilitate easier access of Kenyan business in Israel?
We have made efforts to see how we could develop business-to-business cooperation, and this is why we've opened more than two years ago a fully fledged Trade Office here at the embassy.
We have a professional team that is led by our economic attaché, and I think as governments, we also need to create the right environment for business. Sometimes, for instance, relevant agreements that support and encourage business between our two countries should be finalised.
We are holding in Israel the next session of the Joint Trade Commission this November. We are hoping to sign at least two important agreements that would encourage the environment of doing business — the financial protocol and the double taxation agreement.
Our joint goal is to make sure by November, we complete the negotiations on those two agreements and sign them probably even in Israel during November's next session of the joint trade committee.
Covid-19 has also created fertile grounds for radicalisation and led to increased terror cases. How would do you evaluate progress made in cooperation with Kenya in the fight against terrorism?
We are happy to have Kenya as a very important partner in fighting against extremism, extreme ideology, that as you said, is sometimes or in many cases being translated into terrorist attacks.
A lot of it has to do with the exchange of intel and practices of how each country counters and fights terrorism as well as sharing technologies. We are making progress but again, Covid-19 slowed us up a bit. But surely and gradually, we are making progress in cooperation against terrorism and extremism.
Finally, how will the Abraham Accords affect Israel relations?
What is happening today in the Middle East is very exciting.
The agreements signed with the Gulf countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and soon with others, and with countries like Morocco, illustrate what's been happening in the Middle East for the last two decades.
The Middle East is no longer characterised by Arabs against Israel. Today, it is about moderates fighting against extremists who are trying to destabilise it.
So the cooperation we had behind the scenes in the last two decades with many of the Arab countries is now being brought to light. And the latest agreements you've seen, and the additional ones you will see, are representing these important developments — real cooperation between governments.
But even more important, between the people, who want to see a stable and peaceful Middle East. And I think this is one issue that is very important to indicate.
The second thing is that these developments also have a positive impact on our relations with African countries because we have managed to normalise relations with Sudan, South Sudan, of course, even earlier with Chad and Morocco.
Not too many people know that the late King Hassan II was the one who was behind the mediation between Israel and Egypt until we reached the first and most important peace agreement. Why am I mentioning it? Because when you look at the moderate leadership, the wise leadership of Morocco, they are true moderates and true advocates of peace and true mediators.
I am also saying in the context of negative notes from two countries in the African Union.
If they are truly concerned about peacemaking in our region, the way to go about it is the way King Hassan II and his successors, including His Majesty Mohammed VI, did. Their approach was to mediate, to truly advocate peace, to get the right partners together, not doing the opposite.