Liberian President George Weah Receives Friends Of Zion Award

Liberia’s President George Weah was presented with the Friends of Zion award on Wednesday afternoon in Jerusalem as his nation considers how to proceed with plans to construct an embassy in Israel’s capital city.

During his visit to Israel this week, Weah met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen. Weah was the recipient of the award presented to world leaders who “have gone above and beyond” for the state of Israel.

Discussions about Liberia’s plans to establish a trading office that will eventually turn into an embassy in Jerusalem took place during his meetings. The government is working to open the embassy, according to Weah spokesman Isaac Solo Kegbeh, who revealed this today to The Jerusalem Post.

“We have directed the Minister of Foreign Affairs to work out all the necessary mechanisms so that we can have an ambassador,” Kegbeh said. He added that it will not happen “tomorrow, or today,” but in the “shortest possible time.”

Opening the Jerusalem embassy is a “means of protocol, a way of realizing the relationship that exists between the two countries and to get quick access to a lot of things,” Kegbeh added.

Kegbeh also said that the president will “talk to some of his friends” in the region to encourage them to establish embassies in Jerusalem, which would be a “good thing to do.”

He emphasized how Liberia’s cash crop production has been enhanced by Israel’s technological investment, noting that several West African countries stand to gain from increased cooperation.

In accepting the award, Weah said, “The friendship between Israel and Liberia is not confined to mere words. I am deeply honored to be recognized alongside other world leaders and diplomats who have voiced unwavering support for the State of Israel and solidarity with the Jewish people today.”
Cohen presented Weah with the award and spoke on the historic ties between the two nations.

“Liberia was one of the two states in Africa to support the establishment of Israel in 1947,” he said. “We will never forget that support, not just in 1947 but also these days in the United Nations and African Union.”

Cohen’s address was followed by a pre-recorded message from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who spoke on the history of strong Jewish-Christian relations.

After the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Liberia severed diplomatic connections with Israel, but it wasn’t until 1983 that relations were restored. However, neither nation has yet to establish an embassy.

A vow to establish an embassy in Jerusalem was made by 13 nations, and Liberia joined them last year. Additionally, it intends to join the roughly 15 nations that have a diplomatic presence in the Israeli capital.

The majority of the world’s nations have chosen to locate their embassies in the Tel Aviv region because they do not see Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Only four nations have so far established entire embassies in Jerusalem: Kosovo, Guatemala, the United States, and Honduras.