By Dolapo Aina

On Wednesday, the 11th of October 2023, Israel’s Ambassador to Rwanda, Ambassador Einat Weiss had an extensive time with the media in Kigali, Rwanda. With the aftermath of the terror attacks by Hamas on Saturday, the 7th of October 2023 (which began with the “Supernova Sukkot Gathering” music festival; an event which was an open-air psychedelic trance festival, arranged to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot).

The Israeli Ambassador who recently resumed at her new diplomatic posting in the month of August 2023, commenced by stating that: “It is very important that the people of Rwanda who want to get information of how Israel is coping with the tragedy of last week Saturday (October 7, 2023) do so. People woke up to their last breath, last day; from attacks from a bloody Hamas who attacked kids, mothers, babies, elderly people in their homes. And an attack on youth who came from all over Israel to celebrate music. People were beheaded, burnt, raped in front of their family members. No other country in the world would accept such attacks. No country. 1200 (present numbers have increased) people killed so far. More than 100 people were taken hostage. A lot of information is still being processed. Whole family members wiped out. An Israeli volunteer of an Israeli institution who was here in Rwanda, was kidnapped with 8 of her family members into Gaza.”

The Israeli Ambassador went further to state that: “The atrocities on Saturday are something the world has not witnessed. The things the eyes have seen in the past days are not what you see in a regular round of violence. We have received a lot of support from the Government of Rwanda and the people of Rwanda. And a lot of Rwandans have sent us numerous messages of support. Same from all over the world. This is very meaningful to us as Israelis. We are just entering a war on not only the security of Israel but of the world. If it can happen in Israel, it can happen in the world. Hamas didn’t discriminate against any nationality. Terror does not discriminate. The world has to unite against terror. The world has to fight against terror. The world has to eliminate terror.”

On the question of the failure of Mossad, the Ambassador stated that; “The first thing you do in such a case, is that you fight, protect your territory and borders and all other things before you investigate. Once things settle down, Israel would definitely investigate what happened. The hand of Iran is all over this operation. Iran’s hands, money and fingerprints are all over this.

The fact that they still continue to send funds to Hezbollah is also a known fact.”
Asked about an escalation in the Middle East; Ambassador Einat Weiss stated that; “Israel can do, will do and has the capacity to defend herself. All those who want to take advantage of the situation, I would say what the great President of America stated last night (on Tuesday during a live broadcast); don’t.”

Fielding a question bordering on patriotism in Israel; the Ambassador who recently commenced her stint as Israel’s Ambassador to Rwanda revealed a personal detail going thus; “My husband was drafted and has gone to the warfront to fight for Israel. A lot of Israelis who were on vacation from all over the world have been flying back home to Israel to fight for Israel. People are coming back home when the time is hard. They (the Hamas terrorists) would not break us and they would not take our souls. They would not break us. Our secret weapon is that we have no other place to go as Israel is our home. In this blink and dark days, what is important is the power to continue. The officials of the consular department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel have not slept for days and they have been working throughout the past week. I cannot understand how this terrorist organisation can send missiles to Holy Sites irrespective of the religion. We cannot and we would not give terror organisations any opportunity to derail our way of life.

On the question of Rwandan citizens in Israel, Ambassador Weiss revealed that the 250 Rwandan students in Israel were safe. Israel’s top envoy in Rwanda went further to state that the United Stated of America, the European Union are willing to assist Israel with whatever it takes. And she can only hope the goals can be achieved.

On the scale of Israel’s possible response, Ambassador Einat Weiss stated that; “This is not another round of violence we have had in the last week. The gloves are off. This is pure evil. I don’t believe Israel can live side by side such evil. The people of Israel are ached and angry going through funerals and funerals. The scale of the atrocities committed is huge. It is not a cycle of violence. This is war. We are at war with Hamas not the people of Hamas; and this needs to be made quite clear. This is enough and I don’t believe any other country would tolerate this. We have to defend our borders.”

On the question of the publication of the collated horrific images, Ambassador Weiss stated that; “The images seen are mindboggling. We have not seen these images since The Holocaust. The images seen by the Government are indescribable. Whilst discussing about the catastrophic nature of the attacks on the society; Israel’s top envoy in Rwanda stated that; “When everyone in Israel knows someone who was affected, it is catastrophic. It is traumatic. Not catastrophic enough to bring us to our knees. We would not allow terrorists to take our minds and souls. Israel would continue to live.”

On Israel Rwanda relations, Ambassador Weiss stated that; “We have had the utmost support from the Rwanda Government and the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Rwanda. My predecessor (Ambassador Dr. Ron Adam) and I have received thousands of messages of support. And you can see that people are disturbed that if this can happen in Israel, it can happen anywhere.”

Dolapo Aina writes from Kigali, Rwanda