Related Quarterly Updates

The Israeli govt. launched a major diplomatic offensive in Africa this quarter that contrasted starkly with its relative isolation in the international community. In early 7/2016, Netanyahu led a delegation to several sub-Saharan countries—Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Ethiopia—aimed at improving diplomatic and commercial ties. At the same time, Israel initiated a $13 m. aid package to strengthen economic ties and cooperation with African countries, providing them with training in “domestic security” and health, according to Netanyahu’s office (Al Jazeera, 7/4). Later, Guinea and Israel reestablished (7/20) diplomatic relations, and reports surfaced that Chad was planning to do the same.

While Israel’s ties with much of the rest of the world were deteriorating, Israeli PM Netanyahu dedicated significant energy to the diplomatic outreach campaign he launched in Africa last quarter. After visiting Guinea for a meeting with Pres. Alpha Condé and other senior officials, the dir. gen. of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Dore Gold, reportedly stopped (8/21) in a so-called Muslim country in Africa with which Israel had no diplomatic ties. There were no reports about the results of the meeting, but it likely had to do with Netanyahu’s plans to attend the next Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) summit, due to be held by the end of 2016 in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. The ECOWAS commissioner invited the Israeli PM to participate in 7/2016, but 2 days after Gold’s secret trip, there were reports that Nigeria had moved to scupper the plan. One source close to the group said (8/23) that the commissioner did not secure approval from all mbr. states prior to inviting Netanyahu. Israel’s relations with Nigeria soured in 2015 after Goodluck Jonathan lost the presidency. The following mo., Gold met (9/21) with South Africa’s FM, Maite NkoanaMashabane, to “explore ties between our nations,” according to a tweet he sent out that day. Three years earlier, Nkoana-Mashabane had said that South African officials would not engage with Israel. As a result, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official stated on 9/22 that Israel considered “the very fact that this meeting was held an extraordinary achievement.” Meanwhile, Netanyahu was in New York meeting (9/22) with leaders and reps. (9/22) from at least 15 African nations on the sidelines of the UNGA. According to a press release from his office, Netanyahu told “his interlocutors that he believes that Israel could be an amazing partner for their countries. He said that technology changes everything, including in communications, medicine, agriculture, and education. He noted that Israel wants to share its technology with African countries.”

Israeli PM Netanyahu continued his outreach efforts in Africa this quarter. On the sidelines of an Economic Community of West African States summit in Liberia on 6/4, he met with Senegalese pres. Macky Sall, and they agreed to resume full diplomatic relations. Senegal, like New Zealand, backed UNSCR 2334 in 12/2016, prompting Israel to withdraw its amb. from Dakar. According to Netanyahu’s office, Sall promised to back Israel’s bid for observer status in the African Union, resume joint projects suspended after the UNSC vote, and expand cooperation on security and agriculture. Israel pledged to send its amb. back to Dakar. While Netanyahu was in Liberia, he met with the leaders of 9 other African countries. “The purpose of this trip is to dissolve this majority, this giant bloc of 54 African countries that is the basis of the automatic majority against Israel in the UN and international bodies,” the Israeli PM said (6/4). “Israel is returning to Africa in a big way.”

Senegal and Guinea then sent their first-ever ambs. to Israel on 8/8. Talla Fall of Senegal was to work out of Egypt, and Amara Camara of Guinea would be based in Paris. Guinea and Israel had agreed to renew diplomatic relations in 7/2016 (see JPS 46 [1]).

Israel’s new outreach program wasn’t entirely successful, however. South Africa’s governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), voted (7/4) to downgrade the country’s diplomatic presence in Israel from an embassy to an “interest office” in protest of the Israeli occupation. The ANC’s Western Cape branch called (7/5) it the “strongest and clearest position taken by the ANC in our history as a governing party.”

Netanyahu’s outreach efforts on the African continent suffered a setback this quarter. On 9/11, the Jerusalem Post reported that the Africa-Israel Summit, which in many ways was the culmination of Netanyahu’s diplomatic campaign, had been indefinitely postponed. The summit’s organizers expected the heads of state from more than 24 countries and representatives from approximately 150 Israeli companies to come together in Lomé, the capital of Togo, on 10/23–27. While Israeli news outlets and some Israeli officials pointed to political unrest in Togo, the postponement came amid a growing pushback on the Israeli outreach efforts. Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, Sudan, and South Africa had announced they would be boycotting the summit in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Although the summit was a failure, the Israelis were undeterred from pursuing their broader goals. In an interview with the Times of Israel on 9/14, the dir.-gen. of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yuval Rotem, said that postponement actually showed that the Israeli efforts were working. “This is actually a paradox: if [our journey] wasn’t so successful, [the opposition] wouldn’t be so significant” (see JPS 46 [1] and 47 [1] for more on Israel’s outreach to Africa).

Although it suffered a setback last quarter with the indefinite postponement of the AfricaIsrael Summit (see JPS 47 [2]), Netanyahu’s diplomatic outreach campaign on the continent proceeded apace. The Israeli prime minister flew (11/28) to Nairobi for the inauguration of Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya’s president, and he met with the leaders of ten other African countries on the sidelines of the ceremony. After meeting with Rwandan president Paul Kagame, Netanyahu announced the opening of a new Israeli embassy in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital. “[This is] part of the expanding Israeli presence in Africa and the deepening of cooperation between Israel and African countries,” he said. A week earlier, the first reports had emerged in Israel of an agreement by Tel Aviv to pay the Rwandan government $5,000 for each asylum seeker of African origin that was expelled from Israel and accepted by Rwanda. On 1/22, a Rwandan minister of state at the Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Olivier Nduhungirehe, issued a sharply worded denial on Twitter, saying, “In reference to the rumors that have been recently spread in the media, the Government of Rwanda wishes to inform that it has never signed any secret deal with Israel regarding the relocation of African migrants.” (Jerusalem Post, 2/4)

Also of note: South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, voted (12/20) to downgrade the South African embassy in Israel to a “liaison office” in response to Trump’s 12/6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Quarterly Updates for (1 Jan 1970 — 1 Jan 1970)

Israeli PM Netanyahu continued his outreach efforts in Africa this quarter. On the sidelines of an Economic Community of West African States summit in Liberia on 6/4, he met with Senegalese pres. Macky Sall, and they agreed to resume full diplomatic relations. Senegal, like New Zealand, backed UNSCR 2334 in 12/2016, prompting Israel to withdraw its amb. from Dakar. According to Netanyahu’s office, Sall promised to back Israel’s bid for observer status in the African Union, resume joint projects suspended after the UNSC vote, and expand cooperation on security and agriculture.