PA ambassador warns of Israeli penetration in Africa

The Palestinian Authority ambassador at the Arab League warned on Monday of Israeli penetration in Africa, Anadolu has reported. Jamal Al-Shoubaki noted that this is at the expense of the Palestinian issue and the national security of the Arab states.

The ambassador made his comments at a meeting of the permanent representatives of the Arab League members at its headquarters in Cairo. The PA called for the meeting to discuss Israeli activity across the continent.

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Al-Shoubaki said that the Arab states should take measures to counter Israel’s activities across Africa for the sake of protecting their own national security.

“Israel has been marketing itself as a state that offers solutions for the crises of the neighbouring countries. It projects a positive image about itself to the world, ignoring the fact that it caused the Nakba [Catastrophe] for the Palestinians,” explained the PA representative. “However, how can such a country, which builds colonial-settlements be a friend or an ally of the countries [in Africa] which suffered for so long from colonialism?”

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He revealed that Israel currently maintains good relations with 45 African countries; in 1974, that figure was just five.

“The Arab states have limited Israel’s impact for years, but it is currently besieging all of us and penetrating the national security of the Arabs, using the weakness and ongoing clashes among us,” he pointed out.

Israel’s relations with Africa prospered in the 1950s but retreated after the 1967 war. In the wake of the 1978 Israel-Egypt peace treaty relations started to prosper again. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited a number of African countries recently and pledged to carry out several development projects.