Israel and Black Africa: a Rapprochement?

Ethan A. Nadelmann

doi:10.1017/S0022278X00016918

Israel and Black Africa: a Rapprochement?

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2008

Ethan A. Nadelmann

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Ever since the signing of the Camp David accords and the Egyptian–Israeli peace treaty of March 1979, rumours and predictions have abounded of a diplomatic rapprochement between Israel and Black Africa. Israel's unique relationship with those states, which commenced immediately following their independence and ended with a dramatic rupture during the last months of 1973, has continued on a discreet and unofficial basis since then. This article seeks to provide a greater understanding of the present relationships between Israel and Black Africa, and its future possibilities, through an examination of the forces and trends which have determined its course during the past two decades.

Type: Articles
Information: The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , June 1981 , pp. 183 - 219

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X00016918 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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^{page 184 note 1} See Brecher, Michael, The Foreign Policy System of Israel (London, 1972)Google Scholar, for a full analysis of Israel's foreign-policy goals.

^{page 185 note 1} Decalo, Samuel, ‘Israeli Foreign Policy and the Third World’, in Orbis (Philadelphia), Fall 1967, p. 725Google Scholar. As late as 1957, Israel maintained only seven embassies in the entire world – in France, Canada, Italy, Argentina, the U.S.S.R., the U.S., and the U.K.

^{page 185 note 2} With regard to Israel's ‘missed opportunity’ in China, see Brecher, Michael, The Korean War and China (Jerusalem, 1974)Google Scholar.

^{page 185 note 3} See Hacohen's, Ambassador David memoirs, Et L'Saper [Time to Tell] (Tel Aviv, 1974)Google Scholar, and his Yoman Burma [Burma Diary] (Tel Aviv, 1963).

^{page 186 note 1} Rivlin, Benjamin and Fomerand, Jacques, ‘Changing Third World Perspectives and Policies Toward Israel’, in Curtis, Michael and Gitelson, Susan A. (eds.), Israel and the Third World (New Brunswick, 1976), pp. 334–5Google Scholar.

^{page 186 note 2} See the results of the public-opinion survey, undertaken by a Hebrew University study group, in Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Israel and the United Nations (New York, 1956), pp. 289 and 293Google Scholar, referred to in Decalo, loc. cit. p. 728.

^{page 186 note 3} Decalo, loc. cit. p. 729.

^{page 186 note 4} Jerusalem Post, 7 1956, quoted in ibid.

^{page 187 note 1} See Meir, Golda, My Life (London, 1975), ‘African and Other Friendships’, pp. 263–90.Google Scholar

^{page 187 note 2} Ibid. pp. 265–6.

^{page 187 note 3} Laufer, Leopold, Israel and the Developing Countries (New York, 1967), p. 216Google Scholar.

^{page 189 note 1} For an example of the differences between Arab-oriented Black Muslims and others, see Aluko, Olajide, ‘Israel and Nigeria: continuity and change in their relationship’, in The African Review (Dar es Salaam), 4, 1, 1974, p. 50Google Scholar.

^{page 189 note 2} Decalo, loc. cit. pp. 738–9.

^{page 189 note 3} Einfeld, Marcus R., ‘Israel's Relations with Africa’, in Three Lectures to the Anglo–Israel Association at the Royal Society of Arts (London, 1974), p. 7Google Scholar. For a list of the states which signed agreements with Israel, see Amir, Shimeon, Israel's Development Cooperation with Africa, Asia and Latin America (New York, 1974), p. 113Google Scholar. As Decalo, loc. cit. notes, Israel's expanded relations did not only include Africa. By 1964, Israel was represented in 87 countries, including 75 at the ambassadorial level, a diplomatic network surpassed only by France, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

^{page 189 note 4} Decalo, loc. cit. p. 735.

^{page 190 note 1} Golda Meir makes this observation in her memoirs, op. cit. p. 281.

^{page 190 note 2} See, for instance, Amir, op. cit.; and Curtis and Gitelson (eds.), op. cit. For a more critical evaluation, see Hershlag, Z. Y., ‘Israel-Africa Cooperation: final report’, Tel Aviv University, 1972Google Scholar. See also, Laufer, op. cit.; Kreinin, Mordechai E., Israel and Africa – a Case Study in Technical Cooperation (New York, 1964)Google Scholar; and Jacob, Abel, ‘Israel's Military Aid to Africa’, in The Journal of Modern African Studies (Cambridge), IX, 2, 08 1971, pp. 165–87CrossRef Google Scholar.

^{page 190 note 3} Jacob, loc. cit. Also Decraene, Philippe, ‘Is the Romance with Israel Over?’, in Africa Report (New York), 05–06 1973, p. 22Google Scholar.

^{page 190 note 4} See Meir, op. cit. for their origins, and the appendix in Amir, op. cit. for a breakdown in the figures. In 1964, the Israeli ratio of experts to total population (0.028 per cent) was almost twice that of the O.E.C.D. countries (0·015 per cent) Laufer, op. cit. p. 79.

^{page 191 note 1} Gitelson, Susan Aurelia, ‘Israel's African Setback in Perspective’, Jerusalem Papers on Peace Problems, No. 6, Hebrew University, 05 1974, pp. 8–9Google Scholar.

^{page 191 note 2} Source: adapted from Israel, , Central Bureau of Statistics, Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly (Tel Aviv), passimGoogle Scholar.

^{page 191 note 3} Jerusalem Post, 23 March 1957, cited in Decalo, loc. cit. p. 734.

^{page 192 note 1} Rivlin and Fomerand, op. cit. pp. 335–6.

^{page 192 note 2} Decalo, loc. cit. p. 734. On the early years of the Israel–Africa relationship, see Mordechai Kreinin, ‘Israel and Africa: the early years’, and Ehud Avriel, ‘Israel's Beginnings in Africa’, in Curtis and Gitelson (eds.), op. cit. For a rather nostalgic account, see Avriel, Ehud, ‘Some Minute Circumstances’, in The Jerusalem Quarterly, 14, Winter 1980Google Scholar, who served as Israel's first Ambassador to Ghana.

^{page 192 note 3} Rivlin and Fomerand, op. cit. p. 337.

^{page 192 note 4} Aluko, loc. cit. pp. 49–50; and Akinsanya, A., ‘On Lagos Decision to Break Relations with Israel’, in International Problems (Tel Aviv), 17, Spring 1978Google Scholar.

^{page 193 note 1} Ibid. p. 55.

^{page 193 note 2} Ibid. p. 56.

^{page 193 note 3} Ibid. See also Gitelson, Susan Aurelia, ‘The Linkage between External and Domestic Policies: Israel's experience with Ghana and Nigeria’, in Jewish Social Studies (New York), 42, 2, Spring 1980Google Scholar.

^{page 193 note 4} Avriel, , ‘Some Minute Circumstances’, pp. 35–6Google Scholar.

^{page 194 note 1} Schwab, Peter, ‘Israel's Weakened Position on the Horn of Africa’, in New Outlook (Tel Aviv), 04 1978, pp. 21–7Google Scholar.

^{page 194 note 2} Laufer, Leopold, ‘Israel and the Third World’, in Political Science Quarterly (New York), 87, 4, 12 1972, p. 621Google Scholar.

^{page 194 note 3} Ibid. p. 622.

^{page 195 note 1} Miller, Jake C., ‘African-Israeli Relations: impact on continental unity’, in Middle East Journal (Washington, D.C.), 29, 4, Autumn 1975, p. 395Google Scholar.

^{page 195 note 2} For the text of the resolution, see Legum, Colin, Pan-Africanism: a short political guide (London, 1962), p. 188Google Scholar.

^{page 195 note 3} Ran, Kochan, ‘Israel in Third World Forums’, in Curtis, and Gitelon, (eds.), op. cit. p. 259.Google Scholar

^{page 196 note 1} Legum, op. cit. p. 51; also cited in Miller, loc. cit. p. 395.

^{page 196 note 2} Legum, op. cit. p. 135. Also Kochan, loc. cit. pp. 259–60, and Miller, loc. cit p. 396.

^{page 196 note 3} For the O.A.U.'s positions on the Arab–Israeli conflict between 1967 and 1973, see Miller, loc. cit. pp. 395–400, and Kochan, op. cit. pp. 259–63.

^{page 196 note 4} Kochan, op. cit. p. 262.

^{page 196 note 5} See Gitelson, Susan Aurelia, ‘The OAU Mission and the Middle East Conflict’, in International Organisation (Madison), 27, 3, 1973Google Scholar. See also Legum, Colin, ‘Israel's Year in Africa: a study of secret diplomacy’, in African Contemporary Record, 1972–3 (London, 1973), pp. A 124–33Google Scholar; and El-Ayouty, Yassin, ‘The OAU and the Arab–Israeli Conflict: a case of mediation that failed’, in El-Ayouty, (ed.), The Organisation of African Unity Afler Ten Years: comparative perspectives (London, 1975)Google Scholar.

^{page 197 note 1} Decalo, op. cit. p. 740.

^{page 197 note 2} Ibid. pp. 741–3. The Yugoslav resolution called for a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from all occupied territory; the Latin American resolution linked this with an end to the Arab state of belligerency and the start of negotiations aimed at settling the Arab—Israeli dispute. The Black African vote for the former resolution was 14 yes, 8 no, and 10 abstentions; for the latter it was 17 yes, 10 no, and 5 abstentions.

^{page 197 note 3} See Gitelson, Susan Aurelia, ‘Unfulfilled Expectations: Israeli and Arab aid as political instruments in Black African United Nations voting behavior’, in Jewish Social Studies, 37, 2, Spring 1976Google Scholar.

^{page 197 note 4} Kochan, Ran, Gitelson, Susan Aurelia, and Dubek, Ephraim, ‘Black African UN Voting Behavior on the Middle East Conflict’, in Jerusalem Journal of International Relations (Jerusalem), 1, 2, Winter 1975Google Scholar.

^{page 198 note 1} Source: adapted from a similar table in Kochan, Gitelson, and Dubek, loc. cit. p. 25, intended to give an approximation of a state's relative attitudes towards Israel and the Arabs. Abstentions are generally regarded as favouring Israel, although it is impossible to ascertain the reasoning behind such votes.

^{page 199 note 1} Ibid. p. 46.

^{page 199 note 2} Daily Times (Lagos), 10 10 1973Google Scholar, cited in Aluko, op. cit. p. 43.

^{page 199 note 3} Washington Post, 14 October 1973, cited in Miller, loc. cit. p. 402.

^{page 199 note 4} Christian Science Monitor (Boston), 15 October 1973, cited in ibid.

^{page 200 note 1} Gitelson, , Israel's African Setback in Perspective, p. 20Google Scholar.

^{page 200 note 2} Source: Kochan, Gitelson, and Dubek, loc. cit. p. 50.

^{page 201 note 1} Ibid. p. 10.

^{page 201 note 2} Decalo, Samuel, ‘Africa and the U.N. Anti-Zionism Resolution: roots and causes’, in Culture et Développement (Louvain), 8, 1, 1976, pp. 98–100Google Scholar. See also Sisyphus, , ‘Israel's Aid to the Third World: lessons of the past and prospects for the future’, in Middle East Review (New York), 10, 3, Spring 1978Google Scholar; Decalo, Samuel, ‘Afro-Israeli Technical Cooperation: patterns of setbacks and successes’, in Curtis, and Gitelson, (eds.), op. cit.; and Hershlag, op.cit.Google Scholar

^{page 201 note 3} Rivlin and Fomerand, op. cit. p. 340. On the Mwanza project, see also Sankari, Farouk A., ‘The Cost and Gain of Israeli Pursuit of Influence in Africa’, in Middle East Studies (London), 15, 2, 05 1979, p. 271Google Scholar.

^{page 201 note 4} Decalo, , ‘Africa and the U.N. Anti-Zionism Resolution’, p. 99Google Scholar.

^{page 202 note 1} Ibid. p. 103.

^{page 202 note 2} Ibid.

^{page 202 note 3} See the exchange between Golda Meir and Ferhat Abbas, the representative of Algeria's F.L.N., on the question of Israel's relationship with France, recounted in Meir, op. cit. p. 271, and in Avriel, , ‘Some Minute Circumstances’, p. 38Google Scholar.

^{page 202 note 4} This point is made by both Sankari, loc. cit. p. 276, and Decabo, , ‘Israeli Foreign Policy and the Third World’, p. 743Google Scholar.

^{page 203 note 1} Sankari, loc. cit. pp. 274–5, and Einfeld, op. cit. p. 6.

^{page 203 note 2} Africa Contemporary Record, 1972–3, pp. A133–4.

³ Ibid. p. A135. See also Howell, John, ‘Horn of Africa: lessons from the Sudan conflict’, in International Affairs (London), 54, 07 1978, pp. 427–34Google Scholar.

^{page 203 note 4} Decter, Moshe, ‘To Serve, To Teach, To Leave: the story of Israel's Development Assistance Program in Black Africa’, American Jewish Congress, New York, 1977, p. 125Google Scholar.

^{page 204 note 1} Decalo, , ‘Africa and the U.N. Anti-Zionism Resolution’, p. 105Google Scholar.

^{page 204 note 2} Daily Telegraph (London), 31 10 1973Google Scholar. Also see Legum, Colin, ‘Africa, the Arabs and the Middle East’, in Africa Contemporary Record, 1973–1974, p. A6Google Scholar.

^{page 204 note 3} Rivlin and Fomerand, op. cit. pp. 345–6.

^{page 204 note 4} Gitelson, , Israel's African Setback in Perspective, pp. 14–15Google Scholar.

^{page 204 note 5} Decalo, , ‘Africa and the U.N. Anti-Zionism Resolution’, pp. 108–9Google Scholar. See also Legum, ‘Israel's Year in Africa’, and Gitelson, ‘The OAU Mission and the Middle East Conflict’.

^{page 205 note 1} Africa Contemporary Record, 1973–4, p. A6.

^{page 205 note 2} Ibid.

^{page 206 note 1} Sankari, loc. cit., p. 277. Also see Ismael, Tareq Y., The U.A.R. in Africa: Egypt's policy under Nasser (Evanston, 1971)Google Scholar.

^{page 206 note 2} Decalo, , ‘Africa and the U.N. Anti-Zionism Resolution’, pp. 106–8Google Scholar.

^{page 206 note 3} Ibid. p. 109. Of the funds pledged to Chad only a small portion had arrived in Ndjamena by the end of 1975. Six years later, far less welcome ‘assistance’ crossed the border.

^{page 206 note 4} Newsweek (New York), 12 02 1973Google Scholar.

^{page 206 note 5} Gitelson, , Israel's African Setback in Perspective, p. 14Google Scholar.

^{page 206 note 6} Ibid.

^{page 207 note 1} Africa Contemporary Record, 1973–1974, pp. A4–5Google Scholar.

^{page 207 note 2} Ibid. p. A7.

^{page 207 note 3} Aluko, loc. cit. p. 43.

^{page 209 note 1} Mazrui, Ali, Africa's International Relations: the diplomacy of dependency and change (London, 1977), pp. 130 and 146Google Scholar.

^{page 209 note 2} See the articles by Colin Legum on ‘Africa and the Arabs’ in Africa Contemporacy Record, 1973–4 to the most recent; also see The Times (London), 20 04 1976Google Scholar, on Senghor's call for a union of the O.A.U. and the Arab League at the Afro-Arab ministerial conference in Dakar.

^{page 209 note 3} The Times, 17 June 1974. Also see Legum, Colin, ‘Africa, Arabs and Oil’, in Africa Contemporary Record, 1974–1975, pp. A108–9Google Scholar.

^{page 210 note 1} On the role and impact of Islam in Africa, see for instance, Trimingham, J. Spencer, The Influence of Islam upon Africa (London, 1980Google Scholar edn.), as well as his other books on Islam in different regions of Africa; Parrinder, Geoffrey, Africa's Three Religions (London, 1969)Google Scholar; and Hunwick, J. O., Islam in Africa: friend or foe? (Accra, 1976)Google Scholar.

^{page 210 note 2} Kaba, Lansiné, ‘Islam's Advance in Tropical Africa’, in Africa Report (New York), 03–04 1976, p. 39Google Scholar. Also see Sankari, loc. cit. p. 276.

^{page 210 note 3} Mazrui, op. cit. p. 142.

^{page 210 note 4} Or so Mazrui, op. cit. p. 144, and African Contemporary Record, 1973–4, p. A4, contend.

^{page 211 note 1} There is a plethora of material on Afro–Arab negotiations on aid, as well as on black African resentments on this subject. See, for instance, the articles by Colin Legum on ‘Africa and the Arabs’ in Africa Contemporary Record, 1973–4 to 1979–80. Also Buo, Sammy Kum, ‘The Illusion of Afro-Arab Solidarity’, in Africa Report, 09–10 1975Google Scholar; ‘Afro-Arab Summit’, in Bulletin of the Africa Institute (Pretoria), 15, 3 and 4, 1977Google Scholar; Peek, Gail L., ‘A New Twist to Afro-Arab Relations?’, in Middle East Review, II, 3, Spring 1979Google Scholar; Buxton, James and Lennon, David, ‘Africa's Anger Over the Failure of Arab Aid’, in Financial Times (London), 31 08 1979Google Scholar; and Johnson, Willard R., ‘Africans and Arabs: collaboration without co-operation, change without challenge’, in International Journal (Toronto), 35, 4, Autumn 1980CrossRef Google Scholar.

^{page 211 note 2} The Kuwaiti-based Gulf International is mentioned in ‘Afro–Arab Relations after the Cairo Summit’, in Africa Contemporary Record, 1977–8, p. A49Google Scholar.

^{page 211 note 3} Stevens, Richard P., ‘Smuts and Weizmann’, in Stevens, and Elmessiri, Abdelwahab M., Israel and South Africa: the progression of a relationship (New York, 1977 edn.)Google Scholar.

^{page 211 note 4} Theodor Herzl, Aitneuland [Old-New Land], cited in Meir, op. cit. p. 266.

^{page 212 note 1} Liebman, Charles, Pressure Without Sanctions (New Jersey, 1977), p. 162Google Scholar. Also see Brecher, , The Foreign Policy System of Israel, pp. 234–5Google Scholar. For the reaction of South Africa and South African Jews, also see Stevens and Elmessiri, op. cit. pp. 65–7.

^{page 212 note 2} Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin, ‘South Africa and Israel's Strategy of Survival’, in New Outlook, 04–05 1977, p. 55Google Scholar.

^{page 212 note 3} Interview with Jacob Rosen, Minister of Information, Israeli Embassy in the U.K., 24 April 1980. Also see Beit-Hallahmi, loc. cit.; Hauser, Rita, ‘Israel, South Africa and the West’, in The Washington Quarterly, 2, 3, Summer 1979Google Scholar; and The Guardian (London), 15 02 1978Google Scholar.

^{page 213 note 1} New York Times, 12 February 1978.

^{page 213 note 2} Financial Times, 20 March 1980.

^{page 213 note 3} Stevens and Elmessiri, op. cit., and Events, 5 May 1978. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, South Africa's primary suppliers of arms are France and Israel; New York Times, 12 February 1978.

^{page 213 note 4} Goodman, Hirsch, Jerusalem Post, International Edition, 23–9 03 1980Google Scholar, refers to a report that Israel and South Africa had jointly exploded a nuclear device in the South Atlantic.

^{page 214 note 1} See, for instance, Korey, William, ‘The Myth of Israel's Collusion with South Africa’, in Newsday (New York), 19 11 1979Google Scholar and his similar article in Jewish Week (New York), 02 1980Google Scholar. Also the speech of 11 November 1977 by Chaim Herzog, former Israeli Ambassador, to the United Nations, reprinted in Congress Monthly (Washington, D.C.), 44, 9, 12 1977Google Scholar; Kenneth Jacobson, ‘Israel and South Africa’, mimeographed; and Decter, Moshe, ‘Arms Traffic with South Africa: who is guilty?’, Washington, D.C., 11 1976Google Scholar, mimeographed – most of which is distributed by either the American Jewish Congress or the Israel Information Centre.

^{page 214 note 2} Note the statement by former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Andrew Young, 18 September 1979, in Tanzania: ‘It is unfair to link Israel to South Africa. If there is a link, you must compare Britain, Germany, Japan and the US. All of them have links with South Africa. Israel becomes too easy a scapegoat for other problems we have.’ Especially see the ‘UN Special Committee Against Apartheid … Report on the Relations Between Israel and South Africa’, 19 August 1976, reprinted in Stevens and Elmessiri, op. cit. pp. 202–20.

^{page 214 note 3} Legum, Colin, The Observer (London), 19 07 1979Google Scholar.

^{page 214 note 4} Africa Contemporary Record, 1977–8, p. A51Google Scholar.

^{page 214 note 5} See the articles by Land, Thomas, suggesting that a restoration of ties is imminent, in New Outlook, 03 1980, pp. 10–11Google Scholar, and in The Jerusalem Post, 18 October 1979. Also Buxton and Lennon, loc. cit.

^{page 215 note 1} Decter, op. cit. p. 13.

^{page 215 note 2} Land, loc. cit. Also Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 17 July 1979, and interview with Jacob Rosen, op. cit.

^{page 215 note 3} The Jewish Herald (Johannesburg), 12 06 1979Google Scholar; International Herald Tribune (Paris), 31 03 1979Google Scholar; and Land, loc. cit.

^{page 215 note 4} Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 8 February 1979; also interview with Jacob Rosen, op. cit.

^{page 215 note 5} Ibid.

^{page 215 note 6} Schwab, loc. cit. Also see Confidential Foreign Report (London), 1 03 1978Google Scholar; Jewish Chronicle (London), 22 02 1978Google Scholar; and the original report in the Daily Telegraph (London), 8 02 1978Google Scholar.

^{page 216 note 1} International Herald Tribune, 31 March 1979. Among them are Andrew Ngumba; Yalentine Cafoya, Zambian Member of Parliament; and Chief J. E. Adetoro, former Nigerian Federal Commissioner for Health, Agriculture, and Natural Resources.

^{page 216 note 2} Foreign Report (London), 5 03 1980Google Scholar. A severe strain in Israeli—Nigerian relations was removed in December 1979 when the Israelis released Lt.-Colonel Alfred Gom, a Nigerian officer attached to the U.N. peace-keeping forces in Lebanon, who had been sentenced to 15 years in jail by Israel for gun-running. Not long afterwards the Nigerian Minister for External Affairs, Ishaya Adu, was reported as saying that Nigeria must soon re-establish ties; The Times, 2 March 1980.

^{page 216 note 3} Decalo, , ‘Africa and the U.N. Anti-Zionism Resolution’, p. 113Google Scholar.

^{page 217 note 1} Ibid. p. 114. Also see Sunday Times (London), 30 11 1975Google Scholar.

^{page 217 note 2} The Times, 2 August 1975.

^{page 218 note 1} International Herald Tribune, 31 March and 3 July 1979.

^{page 218 note 2} Legum, The Observer, 22 July 1979. See also Gitelson, Susan Aurelia, ‘African Press Reactions to the Camp David Summit and to the Israel–Egypt Treaty’, in Genève-Afrique (Geneva), 17, 1, 1979Google Scholar.

^{page 218 note 3} International Herald Tribune and The Guardian, 10 September 1979. Also see Rivlin, Benjamin, ‘Middle East Issues at the Havana Non-Alignment Summit’, in Middle East Review, 12, 2, Winter 1979–1980Google Scholar.

^{page 218 note 4} The Guardian, 10 September 1979, and The New York Times, 8 September 1979.

^{page 218 note 5} Buxton and Lennon, loc. cit.

^{page 218 note 6} The Guardian, 7 May 1979 (reprinted from the Washington Post) and 29 March 1980.

^{page 219 note 1} Rosenfeld, Steve, ‘Will Africa and Israel Patch It Up?’, in Present Tense (New York), 5, 2, Winter 1978, pp. 14–15Google Scholar.

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