Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
. Governmental relations were established in 1994, four years after Namibia gained independence from
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
. Israel's ambassador to Namibia, Dov Segev-Steinberg, resides in South Africa. While Namibia does not have an embassy in Israel, it has an
honorary consul
A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
, Gil Dankner, based in
Atlit
Atlit ( he, עַתְלִית, ar, عتليت) is a coastal town located south of Haifa, Israel. The community is in the Hof HaCarmel Regional Council in the Haifa District of Israel.
Off the coast of Atlit is a submerged Neolithic village. At ...
, Haifa.
History
Prior to Namibian independence, Israel's policy towards Namibia was that of official silence. A number of high-profile Israeli leaders visited the then occupied territory. Members of the South African administration of Namibia also visited Israel.The Israeli connection: who Israel arms and why by
Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi
Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi ( he, בנימין בית-הלחמי) (born June 12, 1943) is an Israeli professor of psychology at the University of Haifa, Israel. In 1970 Beit-Hallahmi received a PhD in clinical psychology from Michigan State University. ...
, 1981, page 146 in Google Books
* In late 1981, then Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon visited the then South-West Africa, (the annexation of which by South Africa had not been recognized by the UN, which continued to refer to the territory as occupied Namibia) along with South African military officials. As part of Israel's military aid to South Africa, Israeli instructors helped train
UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ( pt, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the Popular Movement for ...
, in their fight against the
MPLA
The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, abbr. MPLA), for some years called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan left-wing, social dem ...
-led government in Angola.
* In 1984, Israel's Ambassador to South Africa,
Eliyahu Lankin
Eliyahu Lankin ( he, אליהו לנקין, 25 September 1914 – 10 August 1994) was a Revisionist Zionist activist, Irgun member and an Israeli politician.
Biography
Eliyahu Lankin was born in Gomel, and moved with his family to Manchuria at th ...
, visited then South West Africa and pledged development aid to South African officials.
* In April 1985, the ''
Windhoek Observer
The ''Windhoek Observer'' is an English-language Saturday weekly newspaper, published in Namibia by Paragon Investment Holding. It is the country's oldest and largest circulating weekly. it had a circulation of 12,000 to 13,000 copies.
The ''Wind ...
'' reported that South African governmental and developmental officials in charge of administering Namibia would visit Israel to study development projects.
Namibia gained independence in 1990 and the two governments opened bilateral relations in 1994.
In January 2008, Prime Minister of Namibia
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
. It asked Namibia to vote more favorably for Israel at the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
. The United States embassy in Namibia would neither confirm nor deny the authenticity of the letter.Letter from US Congress raises some eyebrows ''The Namibian'', 23 December 2008
In January 2009, during the Gaza War, Namibia condemned Israel, saying, "This naked aggression and disproportionate use of force by Israel is unfortunate and only leads to further escalation of violence". Namibia does recognise the State of Palestine.
Economic relations
Israeli companies are heavily invested in Namibia's diamond industry. In 2004,
Africa Israel Investments
Africa Israel Investments Ltd. (AFI Group) is an international holding and investment company based in Yehud, Israel. The group consists of several private and public companies active in areas such as real estate, construction, infrastructure, ...
through subsidiary LLD Diamonds, was given 36 concessions worth
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
180 million by the Namibian government in order to invest in Namibia's diamond industry. As of 2005, LLD Diamonds operated the largest diamond cutting center in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. Based in
Windhoek
Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...
, Namibian President
Hifikepunye Pohamba
Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba (born 18 August 1936) is a Namibian politician who served as the second president of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 21 March 2015. He won the 2004 presidential election overwhelmingly as the candidate of SWAPO, and wa ...
called the factory a success story in Namibia's drive to attract Foreign Direct Investment.
In January 2008, a chartered
Cessna 210
The Cessna 210 Centurion is a six-seat, high-performance, retractable-gear, single-engined, high-wing general-aviation aircraft. First flown in January 1957, it was produced by Cessna until 1986.
Design and development
The early Cessn ...
crashed shortly after departing from an airport in
Windhoek
Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...
. The plane, heading to
Etosha National Park
Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. ...
, killed five Israelis and four Namibians. The Israelis were expatriates working in the diamond industry heading to Etosha for a holiday break, while the Namibians were members of the crew flying the group.
Criticism of relations
Some organizations in Namibia called for an end to relations with Israel due to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The
National Society for Human Rights
The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) is a Saudi Arabian human rights organisation closely associated with and funded by the Saudi government. It was established on 10 March 2004 ;2008–09 Gaza War, opposition parties SWANU and the Namibian Democratic Movement for Change called for the severing of relations.
A number of op-ed's were written criticizing Israel and Namibia's relationship with it. In January 2008, Alexactus Kaure, a Namibian academic and writer, wrote an op-ed piece published in the state-run New Era newspaper which criticized Namibia's relations with Israel, calling them controversial and comparing them to relations with
apartheid South Africa
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
. A year later during the Gaza War, Herbert Jauch, head of research and education at Namibia's Labour Resource and Research Institute published an op-ed in the New Era calling Israel's actions "...an act of cold-blooded murder and a crime against humanity", while calling for the international isolation of Israel.Time to End Israel's Oppression of Palestinians ''New Era'', 22 January 2009
See also
*
History of the Jews in Namibia
The history of the Jews in Namibia (formerly South West Africa and before that German South West Africa) goes back a little more than one and a half centuries. Non-existent in Namibia before the 19th century, Jews played an important if minor ...
*
List of diplomatic missions of Israel
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Israel, excluding honorary consulates. As of November 2021, there are 82 resident embassies, including a Taiwan office, and 22 consulate-generals and two representative missions in the 164 states that reco ...
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...