The Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Michael Freeman, has clarified that Israel’s proposed agenda to protect Christian communities in Nigeria will centre on an intelligence sharing agreement between both countries. Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke about the intervention during a meeting with evangelical community leaders in Florida last week.

He named Nigeria among countries where Christians are “persecuted” and touted Israel as the only nation in the word capable of protecting Christians. Netanyahu’s announcement elicited reactions from Nigerians, many of whom were still grappling with the shock of the surprise air strikes in the country by the United States on Christmas Day.

In an interview with Arise TV Monday, Freeman noted that Israel’s intervention would fully respect Nigeria’s sovereignty. “This is about working with Nigeria. This is not about working against Nigeria. It’s working with them as a partner, as an ally and seeing what we can do,” the ambassador stressed.

“He (Netanyahu) emphasised the issue of intelligence sharing and working in that area, and certainly I think that’s the area that we will be looking at to work with the Nigerian government; to see where we can work together to stop the attacks that are taking place not only against Christians, but also against Muslims and against all Nigerians.

“Our interest is to work with Nigeria to stop all the violence in this country.” Freeman said Netanyahu’s remarks were not limited to Nigeria, but extended to countries around the world where Christians face persecution.