Israel will open an embassy in Zambia, Africa, in the latest outreach by the Jewish state on the continent, Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday.
“Zambia is a friend of Israel, and this is an important step in strengthening our bilateral relations,” tweeted Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar after a conversation with his Zambian counterpart, Mulambo Haimbe, in which he informed him of the decision and invited him to Jerusalem. “It is part of Israel’s process of tightening relations with African countries and one of our strategic goals for 2025,” wrote Sa’ar.
Zambia and Israel re-established ties in 1991, and the southern African nation opened an embassy in Tel Aviv in 2015.
An Israeli diplomat serves as a non-residential ambassador to Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.
“Israel indeed needs to increase its diplomatic footprint in Africa so that both Africa and Israel can advance their historic and longstanding friendship,” Dennis Nethumbi, Africa director of the Israel Allies Foundation, told JNS on Wednesday. “I urge African nations to consider Israel as its closest and most vital friend in a new future together.”
He called the Israeli decision to open an embassy in Zambia “a gift from God” to the African nation for its “great acts of bravery and courage” in supporting Israel in the international arena.
After the ceasefire with Hamas came into effect on Jan. 15, Israel’s top diplomat made a point of including his African colleagues in a wave of phone calls with foreign ministers around the globe.
Earlier this month, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel met with Ghana’s newly elected president, John Mahama, in Africa after attending his inauguration.
“This visit, my first as deputy foreign minister, reflects the high value Israel places on its relationship with Ghana and the African continent,” Haskel said.
Last year, with the help of African allies, Israel thwarted an effort by South Africa and Algeria to deprive it of observer status in the African Union.
Last fall, 35 African lawmakers gathered in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa in a show of faith-based support for the State of Israel, including parliamentarians from Zambia and Ghana.