Six African countries have established pro-Israel parliamentary groups, strengthening diplomatic, economic and faith-based ties with the Jewish state amid regional geopolitical realignments.
The move, which was announced on Monday, was the latest in a growing diplomatic tug-of-war between supporters and opponents of the Jewish state in Africa.
While South Africa has emerged as one of the fiercest critics of Israel worldwide, other African countries have pushed back and are now further strengthening ties rooted in a mix of shared interests and faith.
“Israel sees Africa as a strategic and values-based partner, and we continue to deepen our cooperation through initiatives in agriculture, healthcare and employment,” Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel, who has led the government’s outreach to Africa, told JNS in a statement welcoming the move. “These growing ties reflect our shared values of liberty, innovation and faith.”
The new Israel Allies Caucuses launched in Ethiopia, the Ivory Coast, Lesotho, Seychelles, Gabon and Guinea Conakry join a network of more than 60 such faith-based parliamentary groups in countries around the globe, more than a third of which are now in Africa.
“The addition of both Ethiopia, where the African Union is headquartered and which is seen as the gateway of African diplomacy, as well as several francophone countries offers both the political and diplomatic diversity that Africa represents,” said Bishop Dennis Nthumbi, Africa Director of the Washington, DC-based Israel Allies Foundation, which spearheads faith-based diplomacy.
“The Trump administration has opened a window where Africa can express itself freely devoid of the fear and threats previously coming from Iran,” he added.
“The principles of justice, peace and mutual respect that underpin your mission resonate fully with my personal beliefs and political commitments,” said Guinean MP Dorcas Nema Dione, the new chair of Guinea Conakry Israel Allies Caucus.
“I seek to deepen and broaden my nation’s relationship with Israel, the nation of God,” said Lesotho MP Reverend Paul Pusetso Masiu. “The ultimate intention is to establish much stronger bi-national relations between Lesotho and Israel, to the extent that Lesotho establishes an embassy in Jerusalem and Israel in Lesotho.”
Israel’s deputy foreign minister, a former global leader in the Knesset’s Christian Allies Caucus, has long emphasised the strategic value of religious diplomacy on the continent, where there are an estimated 600 million Christians and which collectively holds 54 United Nations votes.
Last year, Israel’s allies thwarted an attempt by other African countries, led by South Africa and Algeria, to strip the Jewish State of its observer status at the 55-member African Union, a title also held by countries such as China, Palestine, the UAE and the UK.
Last year, scores of African parliamentarians from 20 nations affirmed Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital and pledged to enhance diplomatic, economic and security cooperation with the Jewish state at an inaugural Africa-Israel Parliamentary Summit in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
“The creation of these six new caucuses is more than a diplomatic milestone; it is a powerful affirmation of our shared biblical values and a forward-looking vision for partnership, prosperity and peace,” said Josh Reinstein, president of the Israel Allies Foundation. “This is faith-based diplomacy in action – uniting nations around common moral principles and a mutual commitment to stand with Israel.”
