The Israel-Ghana Parliamentary Friendship Association has been inaugurated at Parliament House in a ceremony under the auspices of the Speaker of the House, Edward Doe Adjaho, and in the presence of the Minority leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu and a representative of the Majority leader.

The Ghana-Israel Friendship Association was the first association to be established under this Parliament, and the inauguration ceremony, was a first of its kind, being endorsed by the Honorable Speaker and the leadership of the house.

The Association aims to foster links between Ghana’s parliament and the Israeli parliament– the Knesset, as part of parliamentary diplomacy activity and the aspiration to enrich the bilateral relations between the countries. .

Prior to the inauguration ceremony, the Ambassador of Israel met the Speaker in his chambers and handed him a letter of solidarity form the chairwoman of the Israel-Africa friendship Association in the Knesset, Hon. Pnina Tamanu-Shata, who is also the deputy Speaker of the Israeli Parliament, conveying greetings from Jerusalem and from the Parliament and people of Israel to their Ghanaian counterparts.

In a speech to officially launch the Association, Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, H.E Sharon Bar-li remarked that the Ghanaian Parliament is “an esteemed house, which is a symbol of democracy and the superiority of the rule of law, and a source of pride and confidence for every Ghanaian citizens” and said that the establishment of the Friendship Association is yet another expression of the excellent ties and the cordial bilateral relations that have traditionally existed between the two countries and will have a key role in strengthening even further the relations between the two respective parliaments. The Ambassador pledged her support for the association.

 She continued by telling the parliamentarians that they are carrying great responsibility since the public’s eyes look up to them, and expect them to set an example and lead, and determined that “By establishing this association, you are conveying today a strong message of peace and friendship, dialogue and acceptance”.

On his part, Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Doe Adjaho called for the deepening of collaboration between Ghana and Israel through the sharing of experiences and best practices in various fields of endeavour. He commended the government and people of Israel for the technical assistance they have offered Ghana in the past by sending specialists here to establish projects in agriculture, water engineering, planning of our sewerage system, the establishment of Black StarLine, training of Ghanaian pilots, guiding of labour syndicates among others.

He advised the Members of the Ghana branch to put in place structures that would ensure the sustenance of the friendship between the two sister Parliaments. The best way to do this is to have a very strong secretariat so that others will take over anytime the present Members are not in Parliament for various reasons.

Chairman of the Association and Member of Parliament for Ho constituency, Emmanuel Bedzrah noted that over the years collaboration between the two countries has always been mainly at the level of the Executive usually focusing on economic and technical issues. The formation of the Association at the Legislative level is therefore a commendable effort to bring the Parliaments of the two countries closer in order to share best experiences in the area of legislation and general Parliamentary practices.

He was grateful to the Rt. Hon. Speaker for his support and for giving his blessings to the formation of the Association. He thanked Her Excellency Sharon Bar-li for using her good office in assisting with the inauguration of the Association.

The inauguration of the Association was witnessed by members of Parliament from both sides of the House.