Israel and Africa

The relationships Israel has with the nations across the African continent are marked by pragmatism and perhaps even expediency above ideology, although the language of the latter salted initial relationships. The modern state of Israel was established shortly prior to many African states gaining their independence. There was a collegiate sense these nations might support each other in their new adventures of statehood as Israel and many African states found themselves connected on this common pursuit of nation building.

When Golda Meir was appointed Israel’s second foreign minister in 1956 her policy was Africa centric. She said ‘Independence had come to us, as it was coming to Africa, not served up on a silver platter, but after years of struggle. Like them, we had shaken off foreign rule; like them, we had to learn for ourselves how to reclaim the land, how to increase the yields of our crops, how to irrigate, how to raise poultry, how to live together and how to defend ourselves….We couldn’t offer Africa money or arms, but on the other hand, we were free of the taint of the colonial exploiters because all that we wanted from Africa was friendship. Let me at once anticipate the cynics. Did we go into Africa because we wanted votes at the United Nations? Yes, of course …. But it was far from being the most important motive …. The main reason for our African “Adventure” was that we had something we wanted to pass on to nations that were even younger and less experienced than ourselves.’

Golda Meir visited Africa in 1958, the end result of which were no less than 33 countries which found themselves hosting personnel from Israel with expertise in agriculture, law enforcement, fisheries, horticulture, military, and social and community programs. African leaders visited Irael to explore the engine house of this science for themselves. In political terms Israel was quick to recognize newly independent African states. It recognised Ghana in 1957 and established its first embassy in Africa when it opened its mission in Kenya in 1963.

Shift in Africa public sentiment started in 1967. It was hard for African nations to not interpret Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank as ‘colonial occupation’. By 1973 most previous friends had aligned themselves with the Arab states, Palestine being granted African Union observer status, Israel not. Nonetheless through the 1970s a handful of countries retained connections and many quietly continued military, technology and intelligence exchanges.

Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu announced in 2016 a reinvigoration of ties to Africa, backing that up with a visit to four countries. Geopolitical interests now shape Israel’s approach to Africa in a way they did not in the 1950s. Israel wants stability in and around the approaches to the Red Sea (Horn of Africa and Ethiopia) while instability across the states of northern Africa is never in its interests. Over the last thirty years Israel has demonstrated not only a sensitivity to North Africa instability and hostile intent but also a willingness to take pre-emptive action in these places if it feels threatened. It is particularly focused on combatting Islamic terrorism, especially if it is authored or sponsored by Iran. Assisting African states combat their own extremist threats is another means of Israeli diplomacy. Israel has provided armaments and diplomatic support to various dictators, including Hissene Habre (Chad), Mobutu Sese Seko (Congo/Zaire), Gnassingbe Eyadema (Togo), as well as the apartheid state in South Africa.

But the technology, intelligence, agriculture and other ties also remain. And of course any wooing of new connections and strengthening of former ties only assists any cases Israel ever wants to put to the UN.

Currently Israel has ties with 44 African states but formal ties with only ten of those. Support for and connections with Israel can therefore be difficult to plumb, with many countries connected to Israel on critical strategic matters but publicly adopting an anti-Israel stance. For example, despite historical and important military links, and despite ongoing trade and commercial connections South Africa opposed Israel observer status at the African Union in February 2023 and is a vocal critic of the current actions against Hamas.

Regional breakdown of Israel connections

North Africa

Morocco normalised relations with Israel in 2020 following the then Trump’s administration signing of the Abraham Accords normalising business and diplomatic relations between Israel and the States of United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Sudan also normalised relations in the same year but it appears it was only in formality with the details yet finalised, and this could change depending on the victor of the current civil war.

Algeria has consistently refused to normalise relations with Israel, occasionally adopting anti-Israel stances at international forums. However, there are healthy business relations between the two nations but details are rarely disclosed. On the other hand, Egypt cooperates with Israel on many issues and are trading partners, although Egypt remains committed to the Palestinian cause.

Southern Africa

South Africa has normal business and diplomatic relations with Israel but is generally pro-Palestinian. Apartheid South Africa had strong links to Israel and the two countries collaborated in technology development, exchange of military technology and information sharing. South Africa provided Israel the uranium it needed to develop its nuclear program. Contentious speculation about whether Israel provided South Africa any nuclear technology has never been resolved, debate which speaks to the then closeness of the relationship between the two countries. Across the region, most countries established relations with Israel in the 1990s with the exception of Botswana which cut relations following the 1973 Yom Kippur War and reestablished them in 1993.

Central and Eastern Africa

Kenya has had diplomatic and business relations with Israel since its independence in 1963. The same is true for Uganda and Tanzania except both cut off relations around 1973. Uganda severed ties after being embarrassed by the Entebbe hijacking when the Amin administration took an anti-Israel stance. Tanzania refreshed its ties with Israel in 1995 but the relationship was really only invigorated at Netanyahu’s initiative in 2015. Tanzania responded by opening an embassy in Israel. The countries share common counter-terrorism interests, a focus honed after al-Qaeda attacked the US embassy in Das esSalam in 1998. Tanzania benefits from agriculture and medicine technology transfers which have been strengthened in recent years. This soft diplomacy has paid dividends for Israel with Tanzania supporting UN resolutions in favour of Israel, reflective of the broader hopes and aims of Israel’s diplomacy across the continent.

North East Africa

From the legend of the Queen of Sheba visiting Solomon to the present day Ethiopia has had a long and complex connection with Israel. Israel has airlifted Jews to Israel when they came under persecution, most notably in 1983-1985 and in 1991. A trickle of Ethiopian Jews have always headed to Israel, migration that continues into 2023. Even when ties were formally severed, in part to help Ethiopia built ties with Libya and Yemen, Israel provided military training, advice and technology. For pan Arab relations the public severing of ties with Israel was important. For internal stability and retaining power, ties with Israel remained important. Reinstated in 1989 the diplomatic, military and economic links continue to deepen.

While there is no formal relationship with Somalia the stability of the Horn of Africa is of vital interest to Israel as it seeks to monitor the approaches to the Red Sea.

West Africa

Nigeria has had diplomatic and business relations with Israel since its independence but the relationship was strained during the 1967 Biafra War. Israel supported both the government and separatists delicately in some form. Similarly Ghana, the first African state to recognize Israel, severed ties in 1973 but resumed in the late 2000s.

Overall, the only countries with no relations with Israel are Algeria, Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Libya, Tunisia and Somalia.

Why can support for Israel be confusing?

One reason is religion. Some African countries are distinctly Christian or Muslim, making it easier to determine their support. Algeria is a case in point. On the other hand, other African countries such as Nigeria have a mix of both religions amongst their populace resulting in differences of opinion between what politicians say and what the population thinks.

Geopolitics of the 1970s and 1980s continue to shape attitudes. African countries that were pro-Soviet Union were likely to remain neutral or reject ties with Israel compared to countries that adopted democracy and which were generally pro-West.

Religion and politics aside, the pragmatic allure of Israel’s advancements in weaponry, technology and agricultural science mean many African countries (if not most) want to trade with Israel but cannot do so publicly. To do so would be unacceptable to their domestic constituents but reflect poorly in the eyes of their neighbours. Deals are done in secret arrangements, true even of those who are vocal opponents of ties to Israel. For example western and eastern regional government officials in Libya recently conducted secret meetings with Israel.

The different messaging can be confusing. During the period of South Africa’s apartheid leadership Israel’s statehood was supported in 1947 by South Africa and subsequently the military and commercial ties were strong. Post apartheid and South Africa took a more pro Palestinian approach, responding to Palestine’s language of apartheid at the hands of Israel. South Africa is loudly hostile to Israel’s potential observer status in the African Union yet Israel maintains a large Embassy in South Africa and trade, commerce and knowledge transfer continues apace.

For some nations like Ethiopia the ties run deep. Jewish populations have been resident for centuries. Some remain deeply lodged and for good reason and their sentimental and religious links to the modern state of Israel remain strong. In other nations the Jewish populations have been moved on or have left of their own volition and African governments have been free to pursue independent relations with Israel without any fear of blowback born of antisemitic actions or attitudes.

Finally Israel understands that while African nations can influence each other it is not engaging a bloc but a collection of individual states, each of which has its own needs and requirements which are pitched to Israel. Israel’s strategy with one nation can look very different to its engagement with its neighbour. In particular the states across northern Africa susceptible to Arab influence require a different approach to say, engaging the nations of West Africa.

What does the Israel-Hamas war mean for Africans?

Perhaps ironically Israel’s intelligence and counter terror contributions to many African countries means that what has happened in Gaza will not alter relationships built on this dependency. But apart from counter terror, other contributions by Israel in trade and technology, agriculture and water remain valuable currency, even though it may not be publicly acknowledged.

Events in Gaza may motivate opportunistic attacks on countries which have open and declared relationships with Israel. This is perhaps the obvious heightened threat posed in East Africa by al-Shabaab which has a track record of taking their cue from Hamas activity.

Being African doesn’t exclude one from being targeted, as Tanzanian students in Israel found out. It is unlikely that Hamas will deliberately attack African nationals. However Hamas may use them to create the impression they are the casualties of Israeli attacks. It will be one way for Palestine to leverage the voice they have with the African Union.

President Ruto took an unequivocal stand against Palestine’s attacks on Israel, pointedly stating Kenya stood with Israel against all acts of terrorism. On one hand making such a stand in the face of their own domestic terror situation makes sense and anything less dilutes its own counter terrorism agenda. Some may feel that his position simply attracts increased attention of terrorists, most notably al-Shabaab.

Arguably events in Gaza mean no change in the relationship between Israel and individual African states. Pragmatic agendas connecting Israel’s technology and intelligence and military technology with Africa partners will not be altered. Israel does have its work cut out winning hearts when Palestine’s (read Hamas) information service has done a comprehensive job convincing the world they are the victims. But public protests in African states against Israel, more muted that those in the US and Europe, are unlikely to change the pragmatic and expedient nature of the relationships African states have with Israel.