 | |
 Israel |  Sierra Leone |
|---|---|
Israel–Sierra Leone relations are the official anddiplomatic relations between theState of Israel and the west AfricanRepublic of Sierra Leone. Both nations have friendly ties, established in 1961 when Sierra Leone gained independence. Israel has no embassy inFreetown, and is represented through its embassy inSenegal. Likewise, Sierra Leone does not maintain a diplomatic representation in Israel, and is instead represented by its consul of honor, Israeli media personality David Ben Basat. In August 2023, Sierra Leone announced its intention to open an embassy inJerusalem.[1]
Israel aids Sierra Leone in many fields. Israel has even donated adialysis machine to a hospital in Freetown, which serves the county's entire population of roughly 6 million.[2]
Sierra Leone's first prime ministerSir Milton Margai was a supporter of Israel, expressing support for the Zionist project in the 1920s and 1930s, and celebrating in the late 1940s when Israel succeeded in achieving statehood. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, PresidentJoseph Saidu Momoh was also outspokenly supportive of Israel and had a good relationship with Israeli prime ministerYitzhak Shamir.
Sierra Leonean presidentErnest Bai Koroma visited Israel in 2017 and met with Israeli prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahu. Koroma praised the long lasting warm ties between the two nations, and invited Netanyahu to visit Sierra Leone.[3]
Sierra Leone abstained on theUN vote in 1975 which definedZionism asracism. Later, in 1991, Sierra Leone supported a UN resolution that rescinded the former resolution from 1975. Currently Israel and Sierra Leone have very positive relations. Sierra Leonean diplomat Adikalie Foday Sumah visited Israel in 2019 as part of a delegation ofUnited Nations ambassadors, and was so impressed by what he saw that he founded an organization to promote ties between the two countries and help change voting patterns against Israel at the UN.[4]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Africa |  | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Americas | |||
| Asia | |||
| Europe |
| ||
| Diplomatic missions | |||
