The contradictions at the heart of the State of Israel have had little impact on its success. This can be seen in Israel’s relationship with Africa. Many African states had backed Israel after 1948 in what they saw as a noble anti-colonial struggle. They related to its cause. One of the least-known aspects of this dynamic, just before the Six-Day War, was Israel’s support for the campaign against white minority rule in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. Israel condemned the regime led by white nationalist Ian Smith after his unilateral declaration of independence in 1965 and supported a military and civilian boycott of the regime.
Israel’s advocacy was not due to a love of African self-determination but was, rather, a calculated decision to gather support in Africa against what it perceived as Arab and communist “defamation.” Israel was also interested in exploiting Africa’s natural resources and immediately set about building relationships with pliant leaders in the Central African Republic after it declared independence from France in 1960.
Declassified documents from the Israel State Archives indicate that it provided training to rebel groups fighting racism in Rhodesia, though the exact nature of the training is unknown; some officials backed armed struggle. When the first leader of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, visited Israel in 1964, he thanked the Jewish state for its support of his resistance movement and expressed a desire for his fighters to get Israeli training in guerrilla warfare.
After 1967, Israel’s interest in liberation movements waned, and its support for them became far less effective as it turned into an occupier itself. However, there was no better political, military, diplomatic, and ideological alliance between…
Auteur: Antony Loewenstein
