Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Cape Verde
Cape Verde's relations with the Zionist state since 1994, the restored cemeteries of its nineteenth-century Moroccan Jewish community, and the American Jewish Committee's praise for its support after October 2023
Cape Verde established diplomatic relations with "Israel" in July 1994.[1] Its Jewish community of Moroccan origin died out, but its cemeteries have been restored with money from King Mohammed VI of Morocco.[2] In 2024 the American Jewish Committee (AJC) said that the government had "publicly condemned the October 7 massacre right away, without ambiguity, and expressed strong support for Israel".[3]
Jewish community and religious life
History
Moroccan Jews from Tangier, Tetouan, Rabat, Essaouira and Gibraltar settled in Cape Verde in the nineteenth century in search of economic opportunities. Their descendants still carry Sephardic names such as Auday, Brigham and Cohen.[4] The Jewish Telegraphic Agency describes them as "an extinct community whose roots trace to the 1860s".[2]
The community today
No organised Jewish community was found in Cape Verde. In 2013 the JTA reported that there were "virtually no practicing Jews" there.[2]
- In May 2013 the gravestones of ten Moroccan Jews in Praia's main cemetery were rededicated. Those present included a rabbi from Lisbon and a Moroccan diplomat. The JTA said the Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project had "a board stuffed with prominent Jewish Washingtonians", but that its funding came largely from Mohammed VI.[2]
- In November 2018 the project rededicated two restored cemeteries on Santo Antão. Daniel Aschheim, deputy chief of mission at the Israeli embassy in Dakar, said it was "a true honor to represent Israel, the Jewish State" at the ceremony. The project says the government had classified the cemeteries as national historical and cultural heritage.[5]
- In March 2024 the AJC joined the project, the Ministry of Communities and the National Library in marking the tenth anniversary of the restoration of the Praia cemetery. The Israeli ambassador, Ben Bourgel, attended.[3]
How far is it Zionist? The heritage work is led by a US-based nonprofit and funded largely by the Moroccan king, not by a local community.[2] Israeli diplomats have taken part in its ceremonies,[5] and the AJC has used them to praise the government's support for "Israel".[3]
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad-Lubavitch movement
Powerbase does not yet have a page on Chabad in Cape Verde, and no permanent Chabad centre was found there. Cape Verde is not among the ten countries with permanent centres under Chabad of Central Africa.[6] The Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States lists no rabbi in Cape Verde.[7]
Zionist movement and advocacy
No organised Zionist movement was found in Cape Verde. During its March 2024 visit the AJC delegation, Wayne Sussman of the AJC Africa Institute and Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache of AJC Paris, met Prime Minister José Ulisses Correia e Silva. The AJC says its Africa Institute "has pioneered advocacy for Israel's reengagement with Africa".[3]
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomacy and aid
- "Israel" has no embassy in Cape Verde. In 2011 the Israeli foreign ministry listed it as covered by the ambassador in Senegal, with an honorary consul.[1] In 2021 the Israeli cabinet approved Ben Bourgel as ambassador to Senegal, also accredited to Cape Verde.[8]
- In December 2016 the agriculture minister, Gilberto Silva, attended the first ministerial conference between "Israel" and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Tel Aviv, which was organised by MASHAV.[9]
Arms
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute records no Israeli deliveries of major weapons to Cape Verde.[10]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Cape Verde separately in its main table of trade by country. Cape Verde falls under "Other Countries".[11]
Migration and aliyah
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Cape Verde separately in its table of immigrants by country of birth.[12]
Political interference
UN voting
In 2018 Cape Verde was one of only seven African states to vote for the General Assembly resolution condemning Hamas.[13]
Jeffrey Epstein
The routing for a planned tour of West Africa sent to Jeffrey Epstein on 30 April 2011 ended with a flight from Libreville to Cape Verde and on to St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.[14] In January 2012 the flight planners for Epstein's plane were arranging a landing permit for Cape Verde and overflight permits for Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and the Gambia, "small african nations that we need and always obtain overflights for", on legs from Abidjan.[15] The records reviewed do not show whether the plane landed in Cape Verde.
See also
- American Jewish Committee
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Morocco
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Senegal
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations mfa.gov.il, archived 5 August 2011.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Cnaan Liphshiz, Moroccan king funding preservation of Cape Verde Jewish heritage — but to what end? JTA, 13 May 2013.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 American Jewish Committee, AJC Joins Cabo Verde Officials, Jewish Community in Marking Historic Restoration of Jewish Cemetery ajc.org, 8 March 2024.
- ↑ How Cabo Verde is highlighting the rich history of the Jewish people in Africa Atlantic Council, 20 May 2024.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project, Descendants, Dignitaries Gather to Honor Legacy of Cabo Verde's Jewish Community press release, 15 November 2018.
- ↑ Shloimy Galperin, Getting Central Africa's Rabbis Into One Room Isn't Easy Chabad.org, 10 June 2026.
- ↑ Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, The Rabbis rabbisalliance.org, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Meet the 36 new ambassadors approved to new posts around the world The Jerusalem Post, 20 June 2021.
- ↑ Government of Cabo Verde, Ministro da Agricultura e Ambiente participa na 1ª Conferência Ministerial Israel-CEDEAO governo.cv, 7 December 2016.
- ↑ Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Arms Transfers Database SIPRI, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports CBS, December 2025 issue (library copy).
- ↑ Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), Statistical Abstract of Israel 2024, Table 2.55: Immigrants, by period of immigration, country of birth and last country of residence CBS, 2024.
- ↑ Benjamin Augé, Israel-Africa Relations: What Can We Learn from the Netanyahu Decade? Études de l'Ifri, Ifri, November 2020.
- ↑ Email to Jeffrey Epstein, "Africa prelim", 30 April 2011, US Department of Justice Epstein files release, Data Set 11, EFTA02721529 (mirror), accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Email to Jeffrey Epstein, "Update", 17 January 2012, US Department of Justice Epstein files release, Data Set 9, EFTA00647682 (mirror), accessed 21 October 2026.