Ethiopia–Israel relations
Encyclopedia
Ethiopia–Israel relations are foreign relations between Ethiopia
and Israel
. Both countries re-established diplomatic relation in 1992. Ethiopia has an embassy in Tel Aviv
; the ambassador is also accredited to the Holy See
, Greece
and Cyprus
. Israel has an embassy in Addis Ababa
.
Israel has been one of Ethiopia's most reliable suppliers of military assistance, largely because Israel believed that if it supported Ethiopia, Arab states would be unable to exert control over the Red Sea
and the Bab el Mandeb, which forms its southern outlet. Israel provided support to Ethiopia during the Eritrean War of Independence
, seeing the Eritrean conflict as an extension of the wider Arab-Israeli conflict.
, Israeli advisers trained paratroops and counterinsurgency units belonging to the Fifth Division (also called the Nebelbal, 'Flame', Division). In December 1960, a section of the Ethiopian army attempted a coup
whilst the Emperor Haile Sellassie I was on a state visit in Brazil
. Israel intervened, so that the Emperor could communicate directly with general Abbiye. General Abbiye and his troops remained loyal to the Emperor, and the rebellion was crushed.
In the early 1960s, Israel started helping the Ethiopian government in its campaigns against the Eritrean Liberation Front
(ELF). The Ethiopian government portrayed the Eritrean rebellion as an Arab threat to the African region, an argument that convinced the Israelis to side with the Ethiopian government in the conflict. Israel trained counter-insurgency forces in order to counter the armed struggle of the ELF. Israel considered the Eritrean liberation struggle as supported by Arab states and feared that a pro-Arab independent Eritrea would block Israeli to pass through the Rea Sea. The Governor General of Eritrea, Asrate Medhin Kassa, had an Israeli Military Attaché as his advisor. The Israeli colonel Ben Nathaw was put in charge of a military training school at Decamare. The Israeli colonel Don was put in command of the training team of the Ethiopian Marine Commando Forces.
The Ethiopian-Israeli cooperation had impacts on the discourse of the Eritrean rebel movements, which increasingly began to use anti-Zionist
rhetoric. It also enabled the Eritreans to mobilize material support from the Arab and Islamic world.
As the war developed, Israeli assistance to the Ethiopian government was increased. By 1966, there were around 100 Israeli military advisors in Ethiopia. By 1967, troops trained by Israeli advisors had taken control over much of Eritrea.
Parallel to the war in Eritrea, violence had also broken out in Oromia. At the time, Israel was accused of aiding the Ethiopian government in crushing the Oromo resistance. Overall a perception was spread amongst the opposition movements in Ethiopia that Mossad
was actively operating inside Ethiopia, aiding the Ethiopian government in persecution of the opposition. That perception had a stark impact on the functioning of rebel movements, as their leaderships began to undertake harsh security measures in response.
The Israeli perception that the war in Eritrea was a southern extension of the wider Arab-Israeli conflict was reinforced when reports of links between the ELF and Palestine Liberation Organization
emerged after the Six Days War. In 1969 the Israeli government had proposed the formation of an anti-Pan-Arab
alliance consisting of the United States, Israel, Ethiopia, Iran and Turkey. Ethiopia had however rejected the proposal. In 1971, the Israeli Chief of Staff Bar Lev made a visit to Ethiopia, during which he presented proposals for deepening of Israeli-Ethiopian cooperation. The Ethiopians turned down the Israeli proposals but nevertheless, Ethiopia became internationally accused of having given concessions to Israel for setting up Israeli military bases on Ethiopian islands in the Red Sea. Ethiopia consistently denied all such accusations.
However, in 1972 North Yemen
and South Yemen began (with the backing of the rest of the Arab world) claiming the islands as theirs, citing the danger of Israeli military bases in the area. Israel offered Ethiopia military assistance in the event of a Yemeni take-over of the islands, but Ethiopia turned down the offer fearing a political backlash. Still, Ethiopia was attacked at the 1973 OAU summit in Addis Abeba by the Libya
n delegation, accusing Ethiopia of allowing the build-up of Israeli bases on its territory. At the summit the Algeria
n president Houari Boumediène
called on Ethiopia to break its relations with Israel. In return, Boumediène offered to use his political leverage to freeze Arab support for the ELF.
The allegations of possible Israeli military bases on the islands of the Eritrean coast surfaced again soon thereafter, at a summit of Foreign Ministers of Islamic countries, held in Benghazi
, Libya. The Benghazi meeting condemned Ethiopian-Israeli cooperation, and pledged support for the ELF.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Aklilu Habte-Wold
began seeking political support for breaking relations with Israel after the OAU summit. After long discussions, the cabinet voted to severe diplomatic links with Israel. The decision was however censored by a veto from the Emperor. At the time of the October 1973 war, many African states severed their relations with Israel. This, and Arab threats of a crippling oil embargo, put pressure on the Emperor to withdraw his veto, and on October 23, 1973 Ethiopia severed its diplomatic relations with Israel. The break of relations with Israel caused the United States to tone down its support to Imperial rule in Ethiopia.
came to power in 1974 and included spare parts and ammunition for U.S.-made weapons and service for U.S.-made F-5 jet fighters. Israel also maintained a small group of military advisers in Addis Ababa.
In 1978, however, when former Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Dayan
admitted that Israel had been providing security assistance to Ethiopia, Mengistu Haile Mariam
expelled all Israelis so that he might preserve his relationship with radical Arab states such as Libya
and South Yemen. Although, Addis Ababa claimed it had terminated its military relationship with Israel, military cooperation continued. In 1983, for example, Israel provided communications training, and in 1984 Israeli advisers trained the Presidential Guard and Israeli technical personnel served with the police. Some Western observers believed that Israel provided military assistance to Ethiopia in exchange for Mengistu's tacit cooperation during Operation Moses
in 1984, in which 10,000 Beta Israel
(Ethiopian Jews) were evacuated to Israel. In 1985 Israel reportedly sold Addis Ababa at least US$20 million in Soviet-made munitions and spare parts captured from Palestinians in Lebanon
. According to the Eritrean People's Liberation Front
(EPLF), the Mengistu regime received US$83 million worth of Israeli military aid in 1987, and Israel deployed some 300 military advisers to Ethiopia. Additionally, the EPLF claimed that thirty-eight Ethiopian pilots had gone to Israel for training.
As Mengistu's allies in the Socialist Bloc went into a state of crisis and division, Ethiopia began to put more emphasis on relations with Israel. In 1989 formal diplomatic relations between the two states were reinstated. In late 1989, Israel reportedly finalized a secret agreement to provide increased military assistance to Addis Ababa in exchange for Mengistu's promise to allow Ethiopia's remaining Beta Israel to emigrate to Israel. In addition, the two nations agreed to restore diplomatic relations (Israel opened an embassy in Addis Ababa on December 17, 1989) and to increase intelligence cooperation. Mengistu apparently believed that Israel, unlike the Soviet Union, whose military advisers emphasized conventional tactics, could provide the training and matériel needed to transform the Ethiopian army into a counterinsurgency force capable of defeating Eritrea
n and Tigrayan separatists.
During 1990 Israeli-Ethiopian relations continued to prosper. According to a New York Times report, Tel Aviv furnished an array of military assistance to Addis Ababa, including 150,000 rifles, cluster bombs, ten to twenty military advisers to train Mengistu's Presidential Guard, and an unknown number of instructors to work with Ethiopian commando units. Unconfirmed reports also suggested that Israel had provided the Ethiopian Air Force
with surveillance cameras and had agreed to train Ethiopian pilots.
. Departures in the spring reached about 500 people a month before Ethiopian officials adopted new emigration procedures that reduced the figure by more than two-thirds. The following year, Tel Aviv and Addis Ababa negotiated another agreement whereby Israel provided agricultural, economic, and health assistance. Also, in May 1991, as the Mengistu regime neared its end, Israel paid US$35 million in cash to allow nearly 15,000 Beta Israel to emigrate from Ethiopia to Israel.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Both countries re-established diplomatic relation in 1992. Ethiopia has an embassy in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
; the ambassador is also accredited to the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. Israel has an embassy in Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
.
Israel has been one of Ethiopia's most reliable suppliers of military assistance, largely because Israel believed that if it supported Ethiopia, Arab states would be unable to exert control over the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
and the Bab el Mandeb, which forms its southern outlet. Israel provided support to Ethiopia during the Eritrean War of Independence
Eritrean War of Independence
The Eritrean War of Independence was a conflict fought between the Ethiopian government and Eritrean separatists, both before and during the Ethiopian Civil War. The war started when Eritrea’s autonomy within Ethiopia, where troops were already stationed, was unilaterally revoked...
, seeing the Eritrean conflict as an extension of the wider Arab-Israeli conflict.
Royal Era
During the imperial eraEthiopian Empire
The Ethiopian Empire also known as Abyssinia, covered a geographical area that the present-day northern half of Ethiopia and Eritrea covers, and included in its peripheries Zeila, Djibouti, Yemen and Western Saudi Arabia...
, Israeli advisers trained paratroops and counterinsurgency units belonging to the Fifth Division (also called the Nebelbal, 'Flame', Division). In December 1960, a section of the Ethiopian army attempted a coup
1960 Ethiopian coup
The 1960 Ethiopian coup was the coup d'etat staged in Ethiopia on 13 December 1960 to overthrow Emperor Haile Selassie. While he was away on a state visit to Brazil, four conspirators, led by Germame Neway and his older brother Brigadier General Mengistu Neway, who was commander of the Kebur...
whilst the Emperor Haile Sellassie I was on a state visit in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. Israel intervened, so that the Emperor could communicate directly with general Abbiye. General Abbiye and his troops remained loyal to the Emperor, and the rebellion was crushed.
In the early 1960s, Israel started helping the Ethiopian government in its campaigns against the Eritrean Liberation Front
Eritrean Liberation Front
The Eritrean Liberation Front was the main independence movement in Eritrea which sought Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia during the 1960s and 1970s. In the very late 1950s unorganized political movement seeking independence was secretly active as small cells...
(ELF). The Ethiopian government portrayed the Eritrean rebellion as an Arab threat to the African region, an argument that convinced the Israelis to side with the Ethiopian government in the conflict. Israel trained counter-insurgency forces in order to counter the armed struggle of the ELF. Israel considered the Eritrean liberation struggle as supported by Arab states and feared that a pro-Arab independent Eritrea would block Israeli to pass through the Rea Sea. The Governor General of Eritrea, Asrate Medhin Kassa, had an Israeli Military Attaché as his advisor. The Israeli colonel Ben Nathaw was put in charge of a military training school at Decamare. The Israeli colonel Don was put in command of the training team of the Ethiopian Marine Commando Forces.
The Ethiopian-Israeli cooperation had impacts on the discourse of the Eritrean rebel movements, which increasingly began to use anti-Zionist
Anti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionistic views or opposition to the state of Israel. The term is used to describe various religious, moral and political points of view in opposition to these, but their diversity of motivation and expression is sufficiently different that "anti-Zionism" cannot be...
rhetoric. It also enabled the Eritreans to mobilize material support from the Arab and Islamic world.
As the war developed, Israeli assistance to the Ethiopian government was increased. By 1966, there were around 100 Israeli military advisors in Ethiopia. By 1967, troops trained by Israeli advisors had taken control over much of Eritrea.
Parallel to the war in Eritrea, violence had also broken out in Oromia. At the time, Israel was accused of aiding the Ethiopian government in crushing the Oromo resistance. Overall a perception was spread amongst the opposition movements in Ethiopia that Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
was actively operating inside Ethiopia, aiding the Ethiopian government in persecution of the opposition. That perception had a stark impact on the functioning of rebel movements, as their leaderships began to undertake harsh security measures in response.
The Israeli perception that the war in Eritrea was a southern extension of the wider Arab-Israeli conflict was reinforced when reports of links between the ELF and Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
emerged after the Six Days War. In 1969 the Israeli government had proposed the formation of an anti-Pan-Arab
Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism is an ideology espousing the unification--or, sometimes, close cooperation and solidarity against perceived enemies of the Arabs--of the countries of the Arab world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea. It is closely connected to Arab nationalism, which asserts that the Arabs...
alliance consisting of the United States, Israel, Ethiopia, Iran and Turkey. Ethiopia had however rejected the proposal. In 1971, the Israeli Chief of Staff Bar Lev made a visit to Ethiopia, during which he presented proposals for deepening of Israeli-Ethiopian cooperation. The Ethiopians turned down the Israeli proposals but nevertheless, Ethiopia became internationally accused of having given concessions to Israel for setting up Israeli military bases on Ethiopian islands in the Red Sea. Ethiopia consistently denied all such accusations.
However, in 1972 North Yemen
North Yemen
North Yemen is a term currently used to designate the Yemen Arab Republic , its predecessor, the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen , and their predecessors that exercised sovereignty over the territory that is now the north-western part of the state of Yemen in southern Arabia.Neither state ever...
and South Yemen began (with the backing of the rest of the Arab world) claiming the islands as theirs, citing the danger of Israeli military bases in the area. Israel offered Ethiopia military assistance in the event of a Yemeni take-over of the islands, but Ethiopia turned down the offer fearing a political backlash. Still, Ethiopia was attacked at the 1973 OAU summit in Addis Abeba by the Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n delegation, accusing Ethiopia of allowing the build-up of Israeli bases on its territory. At the summit the Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n president Houari Boumediène
Houari Boumediene
Houari Boumedienne served as Algeria's Chairman of the Revolutionary Council from 19 June 1965 until 12 December 1976, and from then on as the fourth President of Algeria to his death on 27 December 1978.- Background :Mohamed Ben Brahim Boukharouba was born near Héliopolis in the province of...
called on Ethiopia to break its relations with Israel. In return, Boumediène offered to use his political leverage to freeze Arab support for the ELF.
The allegations of possible Israeli military bases on the islands of the Eritrean coast surfaced again soon thereafter, at a summit of Foreign Ministers of Islamic countries, held in Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
, Libya. The Benghazi meeting condemned Ethiopian-Israeli cooperation, and pledged support for the ELF.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Aklilu Habte-Wold
Aklilu Habte-Wold
Tsehafi Taezaz Aklilu Habte-Wold was an Ethiopian politician under Emperor Haile Selassie. He was foreign minister of Ethiopia from 1947 to 1958 and Prime Minister from 1961 until shortly before his death....
began seeking political support for breaking relations with Israel after the OAU summit. After long discussions, the cabinet voted to severe diplomatic links with Israel. The decision was however censored by a veto from the Emperor. At the time of the October 1973 war, many African states severed their relations with Israel. This, and Arab threats of a crippling oil embargo, put pressure on the Emperor to withdraw his veto, and on October 23, 1973 Ethiopia severed its diplomatic relations with Israel. The break of relations with Israel caused the United States to tone down its support to Imperial rule in Ethiopia.
Mengistu rule
Even after Ethiopia broke diplomatic relations with Israel in 1973, Israel quietly continued to supply military aid to Ethiopia. This assistance continued after the DergDerg
The Derg or Dergue was a Communist military junta that came to power in Ethiopia following the ousting of Haile Selassie I. Derg, which means "committee" or "council" in Ge'ez, is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, a committee of...
came to power in 1974 and included spare parts and ammunition for U.S.-made weapons and service for U.S.-made F-5 jet fighters. Israel also maintained a small group of military advisers in Addis Ababa.
In 1978, however, when former Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan was an Israeli military leader and politician. The fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces , he became a fighting symbol to the world of the new State of Israel...
admitted that Israel had been providing security assistance to Ethiopia, Mengistu Haile Mariam
Mengistu Haile Mariam
Mengistu Haile Mariam is a politician who was formerly the most prominent officer of the Derg, the Communist military junta that governed Ethiopia from 1974 to 1987, and the President of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from 1987 to 1991...
expelled all Israelis so that he might preserve his relationship with radical Arab states such as Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
and South Yemen. Although, Addis Ababa claimed it had terminated its military relationship with Israel, military cooperation continued. In 1983, for example, Israel provided communications training, and in 1984 Israeli advisers trained the Presidential Guard and Israeli technical personnel served with the police. Some Western observers believed that Israel provided military assistance to Ethiopia in exchange for Mengistu's tacit cooperation during Operation Moses
Operation Moses
Operation Moses refers to the covert evacuation of Ethiopian Jews from Sudan during a famine in 1984...
in 1984, in which 10,000 Beta Israel
Beta Israel
Beta Israel Israel, Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል - Bēta 'Isrā'ēl, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "Community of Israel" also known as Ethiopian Jews , are the names of Jewish communities which lived in the area of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires , nowadays divided between Amhara and Tigray...
(Ethiopian Jews) were evacuated to Israel. In 1985 Israel reportedly sold Addis Ababa at least US$20 million in Soviet-made munitions and spare parts captured from Palestinians in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. According to the Eritrean People's Liberation Front
Eritrean People's Liberation Front
The Eritrean People's Liberation Front was an armed organization that fought for the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia. It emerged in 1970 as an intellectual left-wing group that split from the Eritrean Liberation Front .-Background:...
(EPLF), the Mengistu regime received US$83 million worth of Israeli military aid in 1987, and Israel deployed some 300 military advisers to Ethiopia. Additionally, the EPLF claimed that thirty-eight Ethiopian pilots had gone to Israel for training.
As Mengistu's allies in the Socialist Bloc went into a state of crisis and division, Ethiopia began to put more emphasis on relations with Israel. In 1989 formal diplomatic relations between the two states were reinstated. In late 1989, Israel reportedly finalized a secret agreement to provide increased military assistance to Addis Ababa in exchange for Mengistu's promise to allow Ethiopia's remaining Beta Israel to emigrate to Israel. In addition, the two nations agreed to restore diplomatic relations (Israel opened an embassy in Addis Ababa on December 17, 1989) and to increase intelligence cooperation. Mengistu apparently believed that Israel, unlike the Soviet Union, whose military advisers emphasized conventional tactics, could provide the training and matériel needed to transform the Ethiopian army into a counterinsurgency force capable of defeating Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
n and Tigrayan separatists.
During 1990 Israeli-Ethiopian relations continued to prosper. According to a New York Times report, Tel Aviv furnished an array of military assistance to Addis Ababa, including 150,000 rifles, cluster bombs, ten to twenty military advisers to train Mengistu's Presidential Guard, and an unknown number of instructors to work with Ethiopian commando units. Unconfirmed reports also suggested that Israel had provided the Ethiopian Air Force
Ethiopian Air Force
The Ethiopian Air Force is the air arm of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces and is tasked with protecting the air space, providing support to the ground forces as well as assisting during national emergencies.- Early years :...
with surveillance cameras and had agreed to train Ethiopian pilots.
Ethiopian Jews
In return for this aid, Ethiopia permitted the emigration of the Beta IsraelBeta Israel
Beta Israel Israel, Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል - Bēta 'Isrā'ēl, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "Community of Israel" also known as Ethiopian Jews , are the names of Jewish communities which lived in the area of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires , nowadays divided between Amhara and Tigray...
. Departures in the spring reached about 500 people a month before Ethiopian officials adopted new emigration procedures that reduced the figure by more than two-thirds. The following year, Tel Aviv and Addis Ababa negotiated another agreement whereby Israel provided agricultural, economic, and health assistance. Also, in May 1991, as the Mengistu regime neared its end, Israel paid US$35 million in cash to allow nearly 15,000 Beta Israel to emigrate from Ethiopia to Israel.