Published: 8 March 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
ISRAEL DEFENCE FORCE commandos are reportedly training local forces in more than a dozen African nations, part of a broad strategy by Israel to boost its diplomatic ties in the continent.
According to a Sunday Channel 13 report, which showed footage of Israeli officers training Tanzanian soldiers in hand-to-hand krav maga, hostage rescue operations and urban combat, there has been a dramatic upsurge of military cooperation with African nations.
This is a direct result of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to improve ties with African nations and establish relations with several others, a centerpiece of his foreign policy, the report said.
“I’ve been in Africa four times in the last two years, that’s gotta tell you something,” Netanyahu said recently in a speech to American-Jewish leaders.
This includes a combined effort by the Foreign Ministry, the IDF, the Mossad and the Shin Bet security service to boost ties, the report said.
FULL STORY Israel’s diplomatic thrust into Africa spearheaded by military training (Times of Israel)
Photo: Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara meet with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his wife in Nairobi, Kenya, in July, 2016 (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
