How Israel Uses Africa to Try to Whitewash Apartheid
In the years after its violent formation, Israel tried to position itself as a member of the rising anti-colonial world. And today, despite its obvious role as an occupier, Israel is trying the same thing: establishing ties to African countries to shield Israel from criticisms that it's an apartheid state.
Ethiopian immigrants wave Israeli flags as they step off a plane at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, east of Tel Aviv. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP via Getty Images)
In recent years, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, aided by Donald Trump, has sought to garner legitimacy for Israel beyond Washington. In the second half of 2020, Israel partially or fully restored diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in the Middle East, as well as Sudan and Morocco in Africa.
Despite Trump’s exit, Israel’s campaign for normalization is not finished yet — and Africa is of particular interest. As Netanyahu told Israeli ambassadors to Africa in 2017:
The automatic majority against Israel at the UN is composed — first and foremost — of African countries. There are 54 countries. If you change the voting pattern of a majority of them, you at once bring them from one side to the other. You have changed the balance of votes against us at the UN, and the day is not far off when we will have a majority there.
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