Following his contacts in Sudan on Feb. 2, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen announced that they had agreed on aspects of the peace agreement to be signed between Sudan and Israel. The agreement will be signed in Washington after the interim government in Sudan hands over its powers to a civilian government. Thus, Sudan will become the fourth country, after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, to sign a normalization agreement with Tel Aviv.
The normalization between Sudan and Israel was first announced by former U.S. President Donald Trump on Oct. 23, 2020. Shortly before this decision, Sudan was removed from the list of "countries that support terrorism" by the United States. As Cohen stated, the implementation of this agreement with Sudan is of critical importance for Israel. Melting ice with Khartoum will also break the historical decision of the Arab League known as the "Three Nos" (no peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel, no recognition of Israel), and will contribute to the normalization of Israel with more Arab and African countries.
Israel aims to normalize its relations with many countries with the great support of the U.S. in the international arena. Since the African continent is of great importance in terms of Israeli foreign policy, the issue of developing relations with the continental countries has been one of the priority agendas of the Tel Aviv Administration for a long time. The Abraham Accords, in effect since Sept. 15, 2020, include normalization declarations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain. They also gave a great impetus to Tel Aviv's normalization efforts with African countries.
Israel's Africa effort is not new
In fact, Israel's effort to normalize its relations with Africa is not new. David Ben-Gurion, the founder and first prime minister of the State of Israel, which was established in 1948, paid attention to developing relations with African countries to get rid of diplomatic isolation at that time. Therefore, the 1950s and 1960s were a period in which Israeli-African relations developed rapidly. In this period, Israel's cooperation demands were also welcomed by the newly independent African states. But after the war with Palestine – notably the 1973 Yom Kippur War – and the oil embargo declared by the Gulf Arab states, most African states broke off diplomatic relations with Israel. The Organization of African Unity also made the decision to cut relations with Israel.
After the Oslo Accords were signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel in 1990, the Tel Aviv administration turned its attention to establishing relations with Africa again. However, initiatives for the African continent gained momentum mainly during the Benjamin Netanyahu era. At that time, many high-level official visits were made to continental countries. As a result of these Netanyahu's efforts, relations with Chad, with which diplomatic relations were cut in 1972, were reestablished. Iran's then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was influenced by Netanyahu's active African policy, also made efforts to increase his influence in the region. However, Hassan Rouhani, who was Ahmadinejad's successor, kept the African agenda in second place in foreign policy for a long time, which gave an advantage to Israel's presence in the continent.
So why is it so important for Israel to improve its relations with African countries? First of all, as it is known, Israel is a country that stands out in the global agricultural market by adopting advanced technologies and efficient agricultural practices. The Israeli agricultural sector is known for innovations in areas such as agricultural technologies, irrigation systems and agricultural tools suitable for hot and dry climates. Therefore, the African continent has huge market potential for both the agricultural products and agricultural technologies produced by Israel.
Issue of security tech exports
Another issue that makes Africa crucial for Israel is the export of security technologies. Known for its advanced security technology, Israel obtained approximately $11.3 billion from defense exports in 2021. Tel Aviv administration exports defense industry products to various countries in Africa. These exports usually include a range of products such as surveillance systems, perimeter protection systems, cyber security solutions and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones). African countries struggling with internal and external security issues are considered as an important market for Israel's defense and security sector.
Finally, it is possible to say that the search for political support in the international arena pushes Israel to improve its relations with African states. Because African states make up a quarter of the countries represented in the U.N. For this reason, Israel, which is the main actor in the Palestinian question, which has not been resolved for years, wants African states to support its own thesis in the voting on the subject at the U.N.
Israel aims to have strong relations with the African Union (AU) as well as solid bilateral ties with African nations. Historically, Israel was part of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the predecessor of the African Union. However, when the African Union was established in 2002, Israel lost its observer status in the organization due to the pressures of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. In 2003 and 2016, the Tel Aviv administration made an official application to the African Union for observer status. However, these applications were rejected due to the Palestine question. Aiming to benefit from the mild atmosphere after the Abraham Accords in 2020, the Tel Aviv administration has applied to the African Union for observer status for the third time. On July 22, 2021, African Union Commission President Chadli Moussa Faki Mahamat announced the decision on granting observer status to Israel. However, 13 African states led by South Africa and Algeria, opposed this decision. Because of the reactions, the African Union suspended the decision.
While Israel was waiting for "the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union" held on Feb. 18-19, when the final decision would be made, an unexpected development occurred. This summit was marked by the expulsion of Sharon Bar-Li, Israel's ambassador to Ethiopia, by security personnel at the opening ceremony, on the grounds that she did not fulfill the accreditation requirements.
“Israel has been vigorously monitoring the removal of Ambassador Sharon Bar-Li from the African Union hall despite having an accredited observer status with entry badges,” the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement after the incident.
Subsequently, Israel claimed that this incident was carried out by South Africa and Algeria, which did not want Israel to have observer status in the African Union, and announced that the South African ambassador could be summoned to the ministry. South Africa and Algeria, on the other hand, denied Israel's claims and stated that the union had not yet reached a decision on Israel's observer status, so their participation in the meeting was not on their own initiative, but within the scope of community rules.
Israel's African policy is influenced by interaction with some global and regional actors. For example, the U.S. support for normalization with Israel has had an impact on African countries such as Morocco and Sudan. On the other hand, the reduction of tension between the Gulf Arab States and Tel Aviv through the Abraham Accords also allows the African member states, freed from the pressure of the Arab League, to normalize with Israel. On the other hand, the Palestine question prevents Israel from developing relations with many African countries with a Muslim majority. Finally, Iran, which has very tense relations with Israel, is able to affect relations with Africa. So much so that although there was a decline in policies toward the continent during the Rouhani period, Tehran is still an actor trying to improve its relations with Africa. It is possible to interpret the call for support to Palestine by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who visited Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, at the beginning of February, as a move against Israel's policy toward the region.
As a result, Israel, encouraged by the 2020 Abraham Accords, will follow a more active policy to improve its relations with African states in the coming period. On the other hand, intensive efforts are being made to gain the observer status of the African Union to improve its multilateral relations with the continent. It is possible to say that the crisis experienced at the African Union summit has the potential to negatively affect Israel's efforts to improve its relations with African states and the African Union in the short and medium term. Besides, upon the trigger of the Russia-Ukraine war, the competition of many global and regional powers has increased in Africa. In particular, there is intense competition between Russia, France, the U.S. and China.
On the other hand, actors such as Türkiye, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, India and Brazil are making important moves to increase their presence in the continent. In this environment, Israel should try to create its own space on the continent without directly competing with other actors, as the ambassador of Israel to the Republic of Senegal, Ben Bourgel, said.
*Co-director of TASAM African Institute based in Istanbul
