Three Israeli nationals were escorted off an arriving flight and immediately put on the next plane out of Accra on Wednesday night, in a dramatic act of diplomatic payback after Ghana accused Israel of “inhumane and provocative” treatment of its citizens at Ben Gurion Airport.
The tit-for-tat expulsions have thrust an otherwise obscure travel dispute into the spotlight, exposing raw feelings of national pride, personal humiliation and the limits of a decades-old friendship between the two countries.
It began on Saturday, 7 December, when seven Ghanaians – four of them sitting Members of Parliament – landed in Tel Aviv to attend a week-long international cybersecurity conference organised by an Israeli tech firm.
What was meant to be a routine official trip turned into a 12-hour ordeal. According to accounts given to Parliament and corroborated by Ghana’s Foreign Ministry, the group was pulled aside immediately after passport control.
Phones were confiscated, some were handcuffed, and all seven were locked in a holding room.“We were shouted at, treated like terrorists,” one of the lawmakers, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, later told journalists in Accra. “They kept asking if we were coming to stay illegally in Israel.
Even after our embassy intervened, they still put three of us back on the plane like common criminals.”
Israel’s Interior Ministry has not commented publicly on the incident, but sources in Tel Aviv say the three deported Ghanaians triggered red flags in an automated border-control system often used to screen visitors from certain African and Asian countries.
Four of the travellers – the lawmakers – were eventually released after frantic calls between the Ghanaian embassy and Israeli protocol officials.
The remaining three were refused entry and flown back to Accra the next morning.
The images of handcuffed parliamentarians quickly went viral on Ghanaian social media.
By Monday, #RespectGhana was trending.On Wednesday evening, Ghana made good on its warning of “reciprocal measures.”At 9:45 p.m., three Israeli passport holders – two businessmen and a tourist – were removed from an Ethiopian Airlines flight that had just arrived from Addis Ababa.
Immigration officials informed them their entry was denied “on grounds of reciprocity” and placed them on the same aircraft for its return leg.
In a strongly worded statement released minutes after the plane took off, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said:“Ghana has always extended warmth and hospitality to Israeli nationals.
Regrettably, the inhumane treatment meted out to Ghanaian travellers, including elected representatives, at Tel Aviv was provocative and unacceptable.
While we remain committed to the cordial relations between our two countries, no nation will be allowed to trample on the dignity of Ghanaian citizens with impunity.”
President Nana Akufo-Addo has not spoken publicly, but sources in Jubilee House say he personally approved the retaliatory deportations after being briefed on the treatment of the MPs.
The Israeli embassy in Accra declined to comment, saying only that it is “engaging relevant authorities to resolve the matter amicably.”
Long seen as one of Israel’s closest African partners – with deep cooperation in agriculture, defence and cybersecurity – the sudden spat has stunned many in both countries.
“This is not about politics or religion,” said Ablakwa, the lawmaker. “This is about basic respect. If you invite us to your conference and then handcuff us at the airport, something is very wrong.”
Back in Accra late Wednesday, families of the returned travellers waited anxiously at Kotoka International Airport, some waving small Ghana flags, others in tears as their loved ones finally emerged – 96 hours after they thought they were heading to Tel Aviv for a routine conference.
For many Ghanaians, the swift deportation of the three Israelis was less about diplomacy and more about a simple message: treat our people with dignity, or stay home.