Israel always plays the victim, while acting as aggressor – Bombande

Veteran peacebuilding expert Emmanuel Bombande has criticised Israel’s approach to the ongoing conflict with Iran, accusing the country of deliberately positioning itself as a victim even while acting as the aggressor.

Speaking Tuesday night on Joy News’ PM Express, he described Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Iranian military targets last Friday as part of a broader and deeply entrenched strategy of controlling the global narrative.

“Without a doubt,” Mr Bombande said, “it underscores their sense of entitlement—to the extent that they have become very sophisticated in orchestrating how, as an aggressor, they are always a victim.”

The former Deputy Foreign Minister added, “Everybody must see it the way they see it, but they are not prepared to see it the other way around.”

Mr Bombande’s remarks followed Israel’s long-anticipated military attacks on Iran, which killed several high-ranking military officials.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the strikes would continue “as long as necessary,” escalating fears of a full-blown regional war.

While careful not to wade into the specifics of Israel’s military calculations, Mr Bombande argued that the narrative surrounding the attacks often shields Israel from scrutiny and undermines prospects for honest mediation.

“I will not go into those in detail,” he said, “but our abstention [in the UN votes] must be understood in the context of Ghana’s historical stance of positive neutrality.”

He stressed that Ghana’s foreign policy since independence has always favoured mediation over militarism, especially in moments of global crisis.

“Basically, the antecedents of our foreign policy are that when there is a global crisis such as the one we have, Ghana wants to mediate and be an intermediary,” Mr Bombande noted.

He warned that the current escalation in the Middle East poses serious risks for developing nations like Ghana, which are only beginning to recover from economic turbulence.

“We understood right at our independence that when there is instability globally, it directly impacts our capacity to attain our vision of economic development,” Mr Bombande explained.

He cautioned that while African nations may appear distant from the theatre of war, the ripple effects are immediate and dangerous.

“We are a developing country—and so is much of Africa—so you do not want the destabilisation of various aspects of our global landscape that now puts pressure on our capacity to pursue our vision,” he said.

Mr Bombande pointed to recent economic indicators showing signs of recovery in Ghana.

“You are making those observations with my good brother here, before we started the programme,” he said to host Evans Mensah.

“We are coming out of a situation in which the economist will tell you we are beginning to look on the brighter side. The downgrading of some of our indicators are being upgraded.”

“The last thing we need,” he warned, “is the type of instability that now draws us back to where we came from—and we do not want to be there again.”

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