Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Equatorial Guinea
Israeli security firms and instructors training the presidential guard and special forces of Teodoro Obiang's regime, Israeli patrol boats and corvettes bought to guard the offshore oil fields, Circles surveillance, and Equatorial Guinea's embassy opened in 2019
Equatorial Guinea has bought Israeli patrol craft, corvettes and surveillance systems. Israeli firms and instructors have trained the security forces of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, including the presidential guard.[1][2] In 2019 Equatorial Guinea opened an embassy in "Israel".[3]
Jewish community and religious life
History
No historic Jewish community in Equatorial Guinea was found in the sources consulted.
The community today
No organised Jewish community was found in Equatorial Guinea.
How far is it Zionist? No Jewish communal body was found. The Zionist state's honorary consul in Malabo has been described as a key broker of arms deals (see below).
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad-Lubavitch movement
Powerbase does not yet have a page on Chabad in Equatorial Guinea, and no permanent Chabad centre was found there. Equatorial Guinea is not among the ten countries with permanent centres under Chabad of Central Africa.[4] The Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States lists no rabbi in Equatorial Guinea.[5]
Zionist movement and advocacy
No organised Zionist movement was found in Equatorial Guinea.
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomacy
Equatorial Guinea's embassy in "Israel" opened in 2019. Its ambassador, Luciano Ncogo Ndong, is a former official of the Ministry of Mines and Energy.[3] In 2011 UPI cited Africa Intelligence as reporting that Yardena Ovadia, the Zionist state's honorary consul in Malabo, had been "a key figure" in securing a corvette deal (see below). Ovadia, described as "an Israeli of Moroccan descent", had "solid connections" with Obiang's entourage.[2]
Presidential guard and special forces
- From 2005: According to SIPRI, Israeli instructors, working either for Israeli companies or for foreign ones, have trained Equatorial Guinea's presidential guard since 2005.[1]
- 2011: UPI reported, citing Africa Intelligence, that Obiang's presidential guard was being trained by Israeli security firms linked to the retired brigadier-general Shlomo Ilya and to Boaz Bedihi, an arms dealer based in South Africa.[2]
- April 2023: On 27 April 2023 Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue visited the Okoheté military training centre near Mongomo, where the Israeli company Sparta Security Solutions was training special forces. The instructors wore Sparta logos and Israeli flag patches. The trainees carried Tavor rifles from Israel Weapon Industries, Negev machine guns and Galil sniper rifles. Sparta's website says it teaches VIP protection techniques developed by the Israel Security Agency, and that all its courses for foreign customers are approved by the export authority of the Israeli Ministry of Defense.[6]
- May 2023: Nguema Obiang Mangue, the official in charge of defence and state security, closed a three-month course in protecting "altas personalidades" (senior figures) at the Riaba special forces base. More than 160 presidential security personnel took part. The government press office said the course was part of a programme of collaboration between the government and the Israeli company "Solución Group", and that it was taught by Equatoguinean and Israeli instructors.[7]
Arms
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute records the following Israeli deliveries to Equatorial Guinea:
- two Shaldag Mk-2 patrol boats (2005);
- two Saar-4 vessels, ordered in 2008 and delivered in 2011.[8]
SIPRI's 2011 paper says Equatorial Guinea placed arms orders worth up to $100 million in 2008. These included two large patrol craft, unmanned aerial vehicles and further patrol craft. Galil rifles, Negev machine guns and Uzi sub-machine guns have also been reported in use there. The paper says "another Israeli expatriate" brokered the 2008 sale of patrol craft.[1]
UPI reported a $100 million contract with Israel Shipyards for two Saar-class corvettes "to protect offshore oil fields". It also reported sales of mobile observation platforms by Aeronautics Defense Systems, and of Shaldag patrol vessels built by a joint venture of Israel Shipyards and Israel Military Industries.[2]
Surveillance
Citizen Lab lists the government of Equatorial Guinea as a likely customer of Circles, a phone-surveillance firm affiliated with NSO Group.[9]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Equatorial Guinea separately in its main table of trade by country. Equatorial Guinea falls under "Other Countries".[10]
Migration and aliyah
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Equatorial Guinea separately in its table of immigrants by country of birth.[11]
Political interference
UPI reported in 2011 that the Israeli Ministry of Defense had backed military exports to Equatorial Guinea "despite the unsavory character of Obiang's authoritarian regime". This reportedly angered the Israeli foreign ministry, which "blocked an official visit to Israel by Obiang some years ago".[2] SIPRI also noted that "disagreement had been reported over deals with the authoritarian regime of Equatorial Guinea" between the foreign ministry and the defence establishment.[1]
Jeffrey Epstein
In September 2011 a member of Jeffrey Epstein's staff sent him a list of airport codes for a possible trip from Teterboro by way of Paris, Marrakesh, Dakar, Abidjan, Malabo or Bata in Equatorial Guinea, Djibouti, Dubai, Baku, Astana, Moscow, Minsk, Vilnius and Riga.[12] The records reviewed do not show that the trip took place.
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Siemon T. Wezeman, Israeli Arms Transfers to Sub-Saharan Africa SIPRI Background Paper, October 2011.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 UPI, Israeli arms companies target Third World United Press International, 8 April 2011.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Benjamin Augé, Israel-Africa Relations: What Can We Learn from the Netanyahu Decade? Études de l'Ifri, Ifri, November 2020.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Jeremy Binnie, Israeli company training Equatorial Guinea's special forces Janes, 5 May 2023.
- ↑ Guinea Ecuatorial Press, Nguema Obiang Mangue clausura el curso de protección de altas personalidades guineaecuatorialpress.com, 14 May 2023.
- ↑ Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Arms Transfers Database SIPRI, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Bill Marczak et al., Running in Circles: Uncovering the Clients of Cyberespionage Firm Circles The Citizen Lab, 1 December 2020.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Email exchange with Jeffrey Epstein, "Re: airports", 26 September 2011, US Department of Justice Epstein files release, Data Set 10, EFTA01774124 (mirror), accessed 21 October 2026.