Trade to rise as Israel-Nigeria direct flight commences in March

Bilateral relations and trade between Israel and Nigeria will rise with the commencement of direct flights between the two countries from March, according to Israeli authorities.

Ms Sharon Bar-Li, Deputy Director-General, African Department, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said this while meeting with some Nigerian journalists on a media tour to Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Bar-Li said the direct flights would further cement the relations between Africa and the Middle East.

“Once we are able to inaugurate direct flights between Nigeria and Israel we are going to see a boost because right now, there is no gate way for Israel into Africa.

“As a former Ambassador to Ghana I can tell you that it is very difficult once you do not have a direct flight. Once this route starts working, we are going to see a huge change. We are going to see business flourishing; people will be able to come and go easily. We will see a pilgrimage,” she said.

The director-general said Nigeria was a very religious country and the citizens, both Christians and Muslims, went to Israel on pilgrimage.

“Do not forget that Jerusalem is a sacred place for free religions, not just to Christianity, not just to Judaism, but also to Islam where people come to mount to do little hajj.

“By March, I really hope to be able to welcome to Israel the Minister who will come on the first flight to inaugurate this route. It will be a very profitable route with a high demand for it.

“The eagerness to open this new route is a good sign for post-COVID-19 recovery,” Bar-Li said, noting the operation of a direct flight between Israel and Nigeria would break all trade barriers, lamenting the minimal trade between both countries which had been on the low in recent years.

“The trade is very minimal and I am hopeful that with this direct flight we will have no more excuses,” she said.

Meanwhile, Israel says it is ready to support Nigeria in the areas of Intelligence Sharing, modern combat equipment and extraction of relevant information to effectively win the ongoing war against terrorism.

Retired Lt.-Col. Jonathan Konricus, who served in the Israel Defence Force (IDF) said this in Jerusalem, while answering questions from some Nigerian journalists who are in Israel on a media tour.

Responding to questions from the journalists on how Israel is willing to support Nigeria in fighting terrorism and insecurity in Nigeria, Kornicous said, “what Israel has is a lot of experience.

“Therefore, sharing knowledge, strategies and tactics on how to deal with terror organisation is one. Second is training, how to train forces better, the second thing is how to train forces in order to deal with counter terrorism or counter Gorilla operations.

“Another thing is equipment, equipment is very important, intelligence, and combat equipment, how to collect intelligence on your enemies and how to have the fire power and necessary tools to strike the enemy.

“Those are three elements that Israel can and is involved in few of the cases.

“Intelligence is key and Israel spends a quarter of its defence budget on generating intelligence, sensors, analysis, manpower, and that is what really gives us the upper hand against our enemies.

“However, it is very key especially in fighting terror organisations that are using civilians of making it impossible to distinguish between civilians are combatants.

“For any nation to effectively combat terror organisations, you need equipment, you need manpower, you need the manpower to be trained adequately in other to deal effectively with counter terror operations,” Kornicous said.

Kornicous said Israel knowing how prone it is from attacks have invested in interception, which had a 92 percent success rate of interception when Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired 4,400 rockets at Israel in 11 days in May 2021.

Responding to questions on how Israeli communities in volatile regions have built resilience, Kornicous said there is a close connection and collaboration between communities and security agencies.

”Israel has at least 75 years of experience and in many cases more communities were subjected to attacks by different organisations. It is not a new thing.

“It is a reality, part of the DNA of Israeli communities whereby there is always a close connection between the communities and the security organisations, and mostly the IDF, which is responsible for an area.

“We have specific personnel in each and every community, they have their fast response teams in every community, which is equipped by the military and trained by the military.

”What we have learned is that you have to have a quick first response on the ground within minutes to respond to an attack by terrorists.

“The first response made by locals is very important,” Kornicous said.

Israel and Nigeria first established diplomatic, cultural, and economic ties officially in 1960 after Nigerian independence was established.

Israel contributed significantly to the development of Nigeria as well as other sub-Saharan African countries in the 1960’s and 1970’s by sending Israeli experts and volunteers to modernize Africa’s agriculture and teach African farmers sustainable farming techniques.

Since 1992 Israel and Nigeria have enjoyed a friendly and mutually beneficial relationship, with more than 50 Israeli companies investing in Nigerian construction, infrastructure, technology, communications and information technology, agriculture, and water management industries. A Memorandum of Interest (MOU) was signed between the Nigerian and Israeli Ministries of Foreign Affairs in 2006, formalizing bilateral consultations on political issues.

This MOU facilitated increased dialogue and cooperation between the two countries on issues of regional and international concern.