Ambassador Arthur Lenk, an Israeli diplomat, who is Israel’s ambassador to South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, in this telephonic interview with SEYI GESINDE, speaks on Israel’s interests in development of African economy and why African leaders should invest in people for development of vast resources in African sub-region, among other interesting issues. Excerpts:
As Israel’s ambassador to South Africa and three other nations, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mauritius, how do you manage and cope with their diverse diplomatic demands and issues of conflicting interests?
I will say there is no conflicting interest, my job is to look for cooperation between Israel and all those countries and to find areas where their interests match, we do this to help each other. So, whether I’m in South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, even Nigeria or in Europe, it is the same everywhere, your job in any country as an ambassador is to find areas for cooperation, so, I don’t think there is any conflicting interest, but only opportunities and possibilities for cooperation.
Before your diplomatic career, you were a medic in the Israel Defense Forces, working as first aid instructor at the IDF’s officer training school between 1984 and 1986, before you went to study law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, what motivated your career change from medicine to law?
A big question! I never started a career in medicine. All Israeli boys and girls have to do a mandatory service in Israel’s armed forces. All of us were given responsibilities in the army and as you rightly pointed out in your question, I was a medical instructor in the military, but once I finished my army time and it was time to go to university, I decided I wanted to study law.
After you were called to both Israeli Bar and New York Bar in 1991 and 1992 respectively, went to practise law in Jerusalem, despite being a citizen of both countries, did you consider this option as a stepping stone to your diplomatic career?
You know I wasn’t thinking that way, but looking backwards, like twenty five years later, I think studying law is very applicable to the career of a diplomat. A lawyer has to represent his client very vigorously, whether the client is right or wrong, everyone needs a lawyer to help them get on with the law, and that is true for a diplomat. A diplomat represents his country, and sometimes, whether in Nigeria or Israel, the country, may not be 100 per cent right in making certain decisions, but the duty of a diplomat is to represent it and look for the best way forward. I think that is one similarity but there are many between practicing law and having a career as a diplomat. So, I wasn’t studying law thinking about making law as a stepping stone to diplomacy, but looking at things in retrospect, I think it worked.
You’ve also shown interest in sport, having served as chairman of Israel Softball Association, after which you were named to the organization’s Hall of Fame in July 2005, as a man on many parts, what was your initial career interest as a young lad?
The truth is I like sports like most people do, but just like the idea of studying law was a great interest to me, I like the reality of the fact that in relating together, people get what they need and I get what I need, I like building ties between different cultures. Sport was my first introduction to that diplomatic engagement.
You’ve promoted trade and development opportunities with South Africa, yet, the country has gone into recession, even after it was declared biggest economy in Africa, what do you think is responsible for this?
Well, I’m not supposed to get involved in domestic issues in South Africa, but I think there are great
opportunities in Africa in general and in South Africa in particular, because there is a lot of fertile land, there are people who need employment and there are employment opportunities in agriculture, there are also vast natural resources in South Africa and Nigeria. The question and challenge are, how do you utilise the population and your resources in the best way? Israel is a very small arid country, most part of the country is desert, but we give priority to the people because we think that our people and natural resources are our best assets. And through education and training, they gain capacities to be able to succeed in the most difficult challenges. When you give training and opportunity to people, you have every opportunity to succeed economically.
Many of African countries are friends and allies of Israel, in what ways will you say Israel has used its innovative powers to impact positively on the continent?
I’m glad to see over the years that there are many countries in West Africa, most especially that have good and warm relations with Israel. I think one of the ways is to share some of the things we learned in Israel. One example is agriculture and it is very applicable for development in Africa in general. That is one good way to use Israel’s innovation, such as irrigation as we carefully use every drop of water to allow our plants and vegetables to grow. More and more effective use of resources to create food security, to create jobs, to create exports to countries in West Africa; I think that is the way to use Israel’s innovation to develop economy in Africa. Another example is in the area of cyber technology, as some people say the most dangerous weapons that exist in the world today are not bombs, but smart phones. Yes, we need smart phones, but you have to use it correctly, which means you need expertise in this area too. It is a reality that for people to be able to use it safely, then you also need to protect from hackers, from cyber-crime and allow people to be protected in the digital sphere. Agriculture and cyber technology are two areas I think Israel innovation can help in development across the African continent.
Terrorism is rising in Africa and most of these terrorists are using the power of cyber technology to cause big destruction in human communities, how do you think the issue of rising terrorism in Africa can be resolved?
That is a big challenge, I don’t know how it can be “resolved”, but I know in countries like the United States and mine, Israel, we built capacities to be able to defeat them and have had some success. We need cooperation, just as all people around the world including Israel stood with the people of Nigeria in the campaign “Bring Back Our Girls,” and as we can see, some of the girls came back. I think we need to work to make sure there is no other such events in the future to that. Terrorists like Boko Haram, like Hamas, like Hezbollah, they look for opportunities to threaten our people, whether in Nigeria, South Africa, or Israel. So, I think we have to cooperate on the issue of terrorism and also in the area of homeland security, and Israel’s experience can be of help to countries across Africa.
What about the growing unemployment situation in Africa, what do you say to that?
It is in building capacity, in creating opportunities for people to do more work. As leaders, we can create jobs and build more capacities in the area of agriculture, education and technology, and making sure that you build capacities that can accommodate people to be able to do meaningful jobs.
The escalating Israel-Palestinian crisis, which seems unresolved till date also threatens the global peace, how do you think this can also be handled?
I think in my region, in the Middle East, like in your region, the West Africa, there are so many seemingly different challenges. In my region, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is important, but it is not the only one. There is conflict in Syria, the problems of ISIS in Syria and in Iraq, the challenges and aggression of Iran towards its neighbours, the problem of Qatar and its neighbours and Yemen and so on and so forth, there are so many issues. But I think what is needed is for countries looking for coexistence to work together, like Israel is doing with many countries in Africa, and in the Middle East, and is looking to develop more ties with our neighbours. We have tried to do that with the Palestinians, while we try to make peace with them, negotiate and compromise. Isreal has learnt how to make compromises and live in peace with our neighbours, as we did with Jordan and Egypt which is what every country has to learn for peaceful coexistence.
Recently, terrorists have been attacking UK, what do you think is responsible for this in a country which has enjoyed relative peace?
Well, what I think is vital here, which Nigerians and Israelis know so well, is that there is no place absolutely free from terrorism. We all have to be vigilant, we have to be strong and we have to push back against the terrorists and it doesn’t matter where they are, whether the terror in Manchester, Boko Haram in Nigeria, or Hamas terror against Israel, all of us who reject terrorism have to stand strong against it. Much of the world, in France, in Russia, in America, and everywhere, there has to be a global war against terrorism and extremism, we need to stand together and reject it and to work together with strategies to push back.
How will you describe your stay in Africa, especially looking at the cultural difference, how does it affect you and family?
I’m a very blessed man, I’m very lucky; I get paid a salary to spend time in Africa, meeting people and coming across interesting people all around the continent and finding ways to connect between them and my people. The only difficulty thing is, as you asked about my family, my wife and I have three daughters and two of them couldn’t join us in South Africa as of the time we came here, they had to stay back in Israel to do their military service. It was challenging, but apart from that, coming to Africa was an incredible opportunity for me and a great blessing, it changed my life and opened my eyes to the world in so many new ways.
What of your happiest moment on the job?
Just recently, about two months ago, April this year, I led a delegation of Israeli business people to Swaziland, and the background to this was that the Prime Minister of Swaziland was in Israel last year, in 2016, and he asked me to bring Israeli companies looking for investment and business opportunities with the Kingdom of Swaziland next to South Africa. I went with a delegation of representatives of Israeli companies to the country, and there was an Israeli man who had invented a special low cost wheel chair for use in the developing world, promoting it via www.wheelchairsofhope.org and he joined me. Together we donated 12 wheel chairs as gifts to a children’s HIV clinic. That was a happy and great moment for me.
You must have had reasons to travel to different places and relocate your family many times, your wife and children, aren’t they bothered, or how do you pamper them?
Well, the truth is that for some people, they live in one place and do not have the opportunity to travel, but we as a family has had the opportunity to live in different countries and meet people from different races and backgrounds, it has made us, not in the financial sense, but in human sense, much richer. It has been good seeing my daughters growing up in international environment, they can succeed anywhere, and they are making friends with people, and it doesn’t matter the colour of their skin, or the way they pray to God, meeting people from all over the world, not minding where they come from whether from Africa, from Asia or Israel, but are people that we have much more in common, than what can separate us.
Are you looking forward to coming to Nigeria?
Yes, I need to come to Nigeria; it is in my schedule of places I want to visit.
What is it that interests you about Nigeria as a place to visit?
What interests me about Nigeria is the fact that I come from a place that is very small, as you know Israel is a desert, very arid and dry. It doesn’t have natural resources. But it is interesting that Nigeria has everything, it is a place of plenty and it has very vibrant population. It has a lot of opportunities with lots of creativity, especially as I’ve heard of Lagos, it is a place I will like to visit.
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