In
a pivotal foreign policy shift, Nigeria on Tuesday night abstained from voting
on a crucial United Nations Security Council resolution that would have ended
Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory of the West Bank, East Jerusalem
and the Gaza Strip by 2017.
Nigeria’s
position marked a departure from the past when the country always voted in
favour of Palestine and had always thrown its weight behind a two-state
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Nigeria
had maintained that policy in what analysts believed was influenced by the
religious undertones, with many Nigerian Muslims supporting Palestine, while
there was also the Christianity affiliation between Nigeria and Israel.
However,
foreign policy analysts who spoke on the issue on Wednesday said
Nigeria’s change in policy may not be unconnected to the recent tangible
assistance given by Israel in the war against Boko Haram in the North-east.
Israel,
as opposed to the United States, Britain and other traditional Western allies,
which have been engaged in semantics, has given Nigeria concrete assistance in
the form of drones, arms, military advisers and training that has helped
Nigerian troops in the push back against the insurgents in recent weeks.
The
UN resolution had called for new talks based on territorial lines that existed
before Israel’s occupation of the territories in 1967, and was the culmination
of three months of campaigning by the Palestinians at the UN and had the
backing of Arab states.
The
Palestinians required nine votes from 15 permanent and non-permanent members of
the UN Security Council.
Nigeria
is currently one of the 10 non-permanent members, with its tenure expiring in
2015. Chad and Rwanda are the other African members.
However,
Palestine got eight votes, one vote short during the vote which took place on
Tuesday night.
The
United States and Australia voted against the resolution, while Russia, China,
France, Luxembourg, Jordan, Argentina, Chile and Chad voted for the resolution.
Nigeria,
Britain, South Korea, Rwanda and Lithuania abstained.
Nigeria’s
role stood out because until shortly before the vote, diplomats had expected
the resolution to get nine “yes” votes, with Nigeria believed to be in support.
But
at the last minute, Nigeria’s UN envoy, Prof. Joy Ogwu, abstained from voting,
echoing the position of the US that the ultimate path to peace between Israel
and Palestine lies “in a negotiated solution”.
Regardless
of whether Palestine received nine votes, the resolution still stood no chance,
as US would have deployed its veto powers as a permanent member to block it.
But
analysts believe the US sought to avoid that scenario, as it would have angered
Arab allies who are currently supporting a US-led international coalition
against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, ISIS.
To
save the US from that awkward position, its Secretary of State, John Kerry,
reached out to Nigeria to help block the move, the Times of Israel reported.
After
the vote, US envoy, Samantha Power, said: “We voted against this resolution not
because we are comfortable with the status quo. We voted against it because…
peace must come from hard compromises that occur at the negotiating table.”
Israeli
Prime Minister, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, also said he personally spoke to
Jonathan and received his assurance of support.
“I
would like to voice appreciation and thanks to the United States and Australia,
and also special appreciation for the president of Rwanda, my friend Paul
Kagame, and the president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan.
“I
spoke with both of them. They told me and promised me, personally, that they
would not support this resolution. They kept their word, and that’s what
clinched this matter. I think this is very important for the state of Israel,”
the PM said.
However,
Palestinian officials who had lobbied Nigeria for months to back the vote and
had received assurances from its officials, expressed shock at the change of
heart.
Speaking
on Wednesday, the Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Nigeria,
Dr. Montaser Abu-Zeid, expressed surprise at Nigeria’s action.
He
disclosed that he had received the assurances of Nigeria's foreign ministry
officials and had transmitted same to the Palestinian president and foreign
minister.
“It
was a surprise because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed me that they
would vote for us, and I have informed my president and foreign minister. Even
yesterday (Tuesday), they assured me they would vote for an end to the
occupation.
“It
is a shock for us, why they abstained, only Nigerian officials know, and you
would have to ask them. We needed nine votes and eight countries including
China, Russia and France voted for us.
“It
is a sad day for us. Nigeria had recognised the state of Palestine since 1988
when it was even difficult times. They voted for the two-state solution, they
voted for us on all issues on Israel and Palestine.
“Nigeria
has been big brother to us, but at this crucial time, to vote to end the
occupation, they abstain,” the envoy lamented.
Abu-Zeid
however noted that Palestine still looks forward to more cooperation between
both countries.
THISDAY’s
attempts to get the official position on why Nigeria changed her foreign policy
on the Israeli-Palestine conflict proved unsuccessful, as the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Wali did not pick calls to his phone, neither
did he respond to a text message on the issue.
However,
a source in the foreign affairs ministry said Nigeria’s decision to abstain was
“strategic at critical juncture for us, as we have been battling the insurgency
for six years”.
He
added, “The Israelis have offered us concrete assistance and we cannot turn our
backs on them. However, we will continue to support Palestine as a
long-standing ally and strengthen relations with both countries,” he said.
The
Israeli newspaper Ynet on Wednesday also alluded to Nigeria’s pivotal role in
blocking the vote that would have ended Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian
territories.
It said Nigeria was the ninth country that was supposed to give the Palestinians the necessary majority in the UN Security Council.
It said Nigeria was the ninth country that was supposed to give the Palestinians the necessary majority in the UN Security Council.
“In
the end, it became the nation that swayed from Palestinian support to
abstention and by doing so enabled the prevention of the unilateral Palestinian
resolution to pass.”
Ynet
further revealed that high-ranking officials within Israel’s foreign ministry
had already come to terms with the fact that Nigeria would give Palestinian the
ninth vote majority and that the US would then use its veto. But the events
played out surprisingly different.
“We
discovered that the Nigerians did not submit and did not break down and voted
according to their conscience,” explained a high-ranking source at the foreign
ministry.
What
finally tipped the balance was a phone call made by Netanyahu to the President
of Nigeria, he claimed.
Part
of the change stemmed from the tightening relationship between Israel and
Nigeria and from the common interests of the countries in the fight against
global terrorism.
Israel
was one of the first nations in the world to offer the Nigerians help in the
struggle against the Boko Haram terrorist group.
According
to various reports, Israel also sold the Nigerians weaponry to be used in the
struggle, while the US had enacted an arms embargo against Nigeria.
Israel
not only cooperates with Nigeria in the war on terror, but also in the areas of
agriculture, construction, communication, intelligence and more. More than 50
Israeli companies operate in Nigeria in the civil engineering, energy,
communication, and security industries among others.
Other
than Nigeria, Rwanda was also a key African country that helped the Israeli
effort to prevent the Palestinian resolution from passing in the UN – although
their vote came as no surprise.
Israel
has very good relations with Rwanda, especially between Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman and Rwanda's foreign minister and between Netanyahu and the
Rwandan president, Paul Kagame.
Israel
and Rwanda have several business relations and the foreign ministry invests in
aid to Rwanda in several different categories. Another country that proved
itself a loyal ally to Israel was Lithuania – which also abstained from voting.
Officials
from Israel’s foreign ministry said: “We marked Africa as a target continent
for our diplomatic efforts, but we have to say that there are regional and
global circumstances that change the principles by which the diplomats
function. One of the most important things today (Tuesday) is the struggle
against radicalism and terror.”
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Wonderful... God bless Nigeria. A very good news...
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