Israel is a little lamb that sits amidst menacing beasts in the region and would take care to look after its security to create a situation, where the lamb and lions co-exist in peace. With these words, Israeli deputy head of mission to Nigeria, Mr. George Deek, elaborate the security challenges that Israel faces in the region in an exclusive interview, with LEADERSHIP Foreign Desk Editor, CHARLES ONUNAIJU. He spoke on other matters including expanding Nigeria/Israeli ties, deadlocked Israel Palestinian negotiation and the recent aid flotilla to Gaza. Excerpts.

Nigeria entered into diplomatic relation with Israel in the 1960s, and broke it up like most African countries in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur war in 1973 and re-established it again in 1993. What is the level of co-operation between the two countries since then?

Since 1993, Israel and Nigeria has strengthened the relations, on regular basis. Just recently in the last few years, there has been great rise in the trade between the countries. The trade overall economic and cultural co-operation between the two are surging on. From Nigeria, tourists, pilgrims and business people are going to Israel. There is an increasing warmath between the Nigeria and Israeli people towards each other. From Nigeria, there are over 20,000 pilgrims every year that visits Israel. It is highest number of pilgrims all over the world visiting Israel. No other country in the world send so many pilgrims to Israel as much as Nigeria.

And this is just one aspect. Another is the presence of Israeli business people coming here, to do business and working with Nigerians. On daily basis, I receive visa application from Nigerian business people going to Israel.

Israel has one of the most developed agricultural sector. Have you had any co-operation with Nigeria in this field?

Well, we have expertise in agricultural and its allied fields. Our advantage in this field is the know-how, expertise and knowledge that we have gained through the years. The new technologies, example the irrigation system and other technologies that we have developed.

In Nigeria, actually since in the 1960s, when we first established diplomatic relations under Prime Minister Gold a Meir, we started working on developing agriculture for our two countries. And you can see in the last two three years in Nigeria, project in the Maizube farms in Niger state. We are working in the area of capacity building with Nigerians and just lately 50 Nigerian students went to Israel about few weeks ago for one whole year, fully sponsored programme in Israel to learn new methods developed in the sector. The programme is called "learning by doing". In addition, we have inaugurated a year programme that is ongoing between the Israeli agency of co-operation and the Nigerian meteorological agency and to gather we are starting a programme which is intended to give climate data and information on agriculture in Nigeria.

And also, ECOWAS was represented in the training. We want to make this, a regional programme. These are just the few example of enhancing co-operation in the agricultural field between Israel and Nigeria. And we are sure that as we decided to focus on this field, Nigeria and Israel can mutually share experience and learn from each other.

Recently Prime Minister Natenyahu said he intended to open direct dialogue with the Palestinians: In this feasible and what are the practical issues involved?

If it were up to Israel, the direct talks between us and the Palestinian would have started not tomorrow, not today but yesterday. Since the first day of Prime Minister Netanyahu in his office, he has called the Palestinian counterpart to come and seat down for direct talks. You cannot have peace if you cannot talk about it and you cannot have peace if you don't want to meet your counterpart. Unfortunately, the Palestinians have put many obstacle in starting direct negotiations and that is why, many steps which is unprecedented were taken, starting from the freezing of settlement building for ten months. This is very unprecedented, because no government in Israel in the past has done it. And it was a big step of goodwill of our government towards the Palestinians, showing them, our serious intentions to negotiate peace.

About seven months have passed and almost a month now, we started the proximity talks with the American envoy to the Middle East, Mr. George Mitchell. And this proximity talks has its goal a situation, where both parties can speak directly to each other. We cannot and will not have peace through proximity talks alone. It does work like that. We will only have peace when president Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu will sit together and talk peace, including all the big issues. There is nothing that we are not willing to talk about. No preconditions, just let us sit down and talk.

As you may know, the purported atmosphere of good will you have just described was jolted or torpedoed by what is generally considered Israel excessive reaction to the aid flotilla that was supposed to be delivering humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people in Gaza. At least nine defenseless activists were killed. Is this, a good will gesture for political dialogue?

When we talk about the Palestinians, it is important to differentiate. The Palestinians today have two leaderships. One in the West Bank, which is the Palestinian authority, under president Abbas and the other in Gaza under the HAMAS terrorist regime. If you look at what is happening in the West Bank, today there is prosperity their-economic prosperity and development.

The GDP growth annually in the West Bank is one of the highest in the world. And this is certainly one of the key aspects, when we talk of a real secured peace, not just signing a paper.

However, on the side, we have Gaza strip ruled by the HAMAS, who violently kicked away the Palestinian authority in Gaza, throwing them from balconies, hunting them in the streets, and shooting them in the heads from zero distance.

This regime is actually now controlling Gaza strip and with this regime, we cannot have peace because this organisation does not even recognize the existence of Israel. This organisation is never willing to recognise existence of Israel. We are willing to talk to HAMAS if HAMAS comply with basic conditions to recognise the existence of the state of Israel, to recognize and respect all previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians, to denounce the way of terrorism and join the way of peace and negotiation.

This is the situation today. The Palestinians have to decide whether they want prosperity and peace which we are now working with President Abbas and the Palestinian authority or they want the way of terrorism and bloodshed as is happening in Gaza between themselves. As for the flotilla, to call the people on the flotilla who were engaged in the fighting against our soldiers, activists, an insult to any activist in the world. There were six ships heading to Israel at that time. Five of them were diverted peacefully to Ashdod port in Israel. Only one ship refused peaceful diversion and that is Marvin Maamara, a ship that every one knows as the famous flotilla. There were 650 people on this ship.

The people involved in the fighting with our soldiers were less than 50 people, who were mainly people from a Turkish organisation-IHH, a terrorist organisation not just in Israel but in countries like US, Germany. These people evidence have shown, had actually accumulated weapons to attack Israeli soldiers. Actually, we were naïve not to think that our soldiers will be attacked. However, when our soldiers went down and was brutally attacked by these people, our soldiers have no choice than to defend themselves. It was merely self-defence.

However, since people are doubting this stand of Israel, we have accepted the international call to investigate. We have established a commission of inquiry, which have 3 Israeli former supreme court Judges and two international observers, from Canada and Northern Ireland. This commission will investigate what happened on the flotilla and Israel government would respect its decisions.

If according to your conditions for negotiating with HAMAS, do you recognize HAMAS as a political force representative of Palestinians, after all it has won a democratic election and a resistant movement challenging occupation. As you may know, Mr. Jimmy Carter has met them and just some few days ago, Turkish Foreign Minister, met HAMAS leader in Syria?

Is HAMAS willing to sit with Israel. If we say yes to your question, are they willing to sit with the Israeli Prime Minister and negotiate. The answer is no. the problem is not Israel talking to HAMAS, but HAMS talking to Israel. HAMAS is not willing to talk to Israel, because it does not even recognise the state of Israel.

However, the situation as it exist today, and I am sorry that Turkey has changed its policy and we see it, not just in talking to HAMAS but in other fields and Ankara is going towards confrontation with the west rather than co-operation with the west. Well, it is Turkish decision and does not mean that Israel will change her policy. One thing the world must understand, is that strengthening HAMAS is working against the Palestinians.

As you may know, Iranian leader, President Ahmadinejad was Nigerian recently, and he said one of the conditions for re-opening negotiations with the west on Iran's nuclear programme is a categorical and clear statement on the nuclear status of Israel. Even if you consider this a distraction, I ask you, what is the true nuclear status of Israel?

I think the world today has discovered the lies of the person called, Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran. Today, whether it is the western world, eastern world or the Arab world, every one knows that Iran is not looking for peaceful nuclear capabilities, but for military ones.

If Iran acquires nuclear capacities, we are not talking just about another country with another missile, but we talking about a country with a messianic perspective of itself. A country that supports terrorism. No other country in the world supports terrorism with the weaponry, or ideologically as much as Iran. We see it around Israel in the mortal threats of HAMAS, Hezbollah and in other parts of the world.

This is something the world cannot live with it, and the world is working on it. You could see it lately in the decision taken in the security council of the UN to sanction Iran. And Nigeria as a partner of the free world joined in this decision and voted in favour of sanction, against the Iranian nuclear ambitions. As you know, Israel is committed for a non-nuclear Middle East and we have said that we will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons in the Middle East.

As Iran has made clear that not even the whole papers in the world turned into UN resolutions could stop its nuclear programme, would Israel want to stop Iran?

We believe that Iran is not Israeli issue but an international issue and we heard very comforting statements from president Obama and other leaders in the world, that stopping Iran from it nuclear ambition is a top priority.

However, we are responsible for our own security and if there is anything that history has taught the Jewish people and the state of Israel, it is not to depend on any one else.

We take care of ourselves and defend ourselves. All options are on the table, which includes all options. What ever we think is needed to stop the danger to Israel from the Iranian regime and its nuclear ambition; we will not hesitate to use any option to make Israel safe. This is our top priority.