Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Malawi
Malawi's unbroken relations with the Zionist state since the 1960s, Lazarus Chakwera's 2020 pledge of an embassy in Jerusalem and the 2024 embassy in Tel Aviv, and the Malawian farm workers sent to the Zionist state during the Gaza war
Malawi has had diplomatic relations with "Israel" since the 1960s.[1] It was one of the few African states that did not break relations after the 1973 war.[2] In September 2020 President Lazarus Chakwera promised an embassy in Jerusalem.[3] In the end Malawi opened its embassy in Tel Aviv, in April 2024.[4] From November 2023, during the war in Gaza, the government sent young Malawians to work on Israeli farms.[1]
Jewish community and religious life
History
No historic Jewish community in Malawi was found in the sources consulted.
The community today
No organised Jewish community was found in Malawi.
How far is it Zionist? No Jewish communal body was found. Chakwera is a former evangelical church leader.[3] Victor Chipofya, a political science lecturer at Blantyre International University, has accused the president, a Christian, of having a "soft spot" for "Israel", like Malawi's first president, Hastings Kamuzu Banda.[1]
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad-Lubavitch movement
Powerbase does not yet have a page on Chabad in Malawi, and no permanent Chabad centre was found there. Malawi is not among the ten countries with permanent centres under Chabad of Central Africa.[5] The Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States lists no rabbi in Malawi.[6]
Zionist movement and advocacy
No organised Zionist movement was found in Malawi.
Israeli state and commercial ties
Aid
For decades "Israel" sent doctors and agricultural experts to Malawi, and Malawians went there to study agriculture. In November 2023 the Israeli government gave Malawi a $60 million aid package to prop up its economy.[1]
The Jerusalem pledge and the Tel Aviv embassy
In his State of the Nation Address on 4 September 2020, Chakwera announced "new diplomatic missions in Lagos, Nigeria and Jerusalem, Israel".[3] At that time Malawi had no diplomatic mission in "Israel".[7] Foreign Minister Eisenhower Mkaka repeated the Jerusalem announcement.[8] According to Ynet, he did so during a visit to "Israel" in 2021.[9]
In February 2024 the government reversed the decision. Its foreign ministry said that "after holding in-depth consultations, Malawi decided to change the location to Tel Aviv, where most countries also have their diplomatic missions".[8] The embassy opened on 18 April 2024. Foreign Minister Nancy Tembo and the Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, attended.[4][10] At the ceremony Tembo said: "We will continue to support Israel even when all the others don't." Before it she met families of hostages held in Gaza.[10] Before the embassy opened, the former Lilongwe City Centre legislator David Bisnowatty had been in Tel Aviv for about a year as chargé d'affaires, "but without offices".[4]
Workers sent during the Gaza war
The first group of 221 young Malawians left for Israeli farms on 25 November 2023.[1][11]
- Labour shortage: "Israel" had turned to Africa after more than 10,000 migrant farm workers left at the start of the war. It had also barred Palestinian workers, who had made up nearly 20 per cent of its agricultural labour force.[11]
- Secrecy: Details of the scheme became public only on 23 November 2023, when the opposition leader Kondwani Nankhumwa raised it in parliament. He questioned its secrecy and called it "an evil transaction". William Kambwandira of the Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency called the arrangement "unfortunate" and akin to modern-day slavery.[1]
- The government's case: Labour Secretary Wezi Kayira said the scheme created jobs and earned foreign exchange. Part of the wages would be remitted to accounts in Malawi.[12]
- Parliamentary approval: On 15 February 2024 parliament approved a plan to send 10,000 labourers. This followed a fact-finding mission that found about 700 Malawians already employed in "Israel".[13] The mission leader, Joyce Chitsulo, reported that 27 of them had run away from their workplaces.[14]
- Agreement: At the April 2024 embassy opening the two governments inaugurated a programme for agricultural workers.[10]
Arms
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute records no Israeli deliveries of major weapons to Malawi.[15]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Malawi separately in its main table of trade by country. Malawi falls under "Other Countries".[16]
Migration and aliyah
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Malawi separately in its table of immigrants by country of birth.[17] The labour migrants described above went to work, not as immigrants.
Political interference
In November 2012 Malawi was one of five African states to abstain on General Assembly Resolution 67/19, which made Palestine a non-member observer state.[2]
No credible sourced link between Jeffrey Epstein and Zionist or Israeli activity in Malawi was found, so this page has no Epstein section.
See also
- Zionist movement
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Kenya
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Zambia
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Tanzania
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Charles Pensulo, Apprehension in Malawi as government sends workers to Israel amid Gaza war Al Jazeera, 1 December 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Benjamin Augé, Israel-Africa Relations: What Can We Learn from the Netanyahu Decade? Études de l'Ifri, Ifri, November 2020.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Mwayi Mkandawire, Malawi to establish embassy in Jerusalem Malawi24, 4 September 2020.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Suzgo Chitete, Malawi settles for Tel Aviv The Nation, 18 April 2024.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Marcy Oster, President of Malawi says his country will open embassy in Jerusalem Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 6 September 2020.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Mercy Matonga, Malawi U-turns on Jerusalem Embassy The Times (Malawi), 2 February 2024.
- ↑ Ynet, Malawi to open embassy next week in Tel Aviv Ynetnews, 26 December 2023.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Jerusalem Post Staff, Malawi opens embassy in Israel, signs agricultural worker agreement The Jerusalem Post, 18 April 2024.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 BBC News, Kenya follows Malawi in sending farm workers to Israel amid Hamas war BBC News, 7 December 2023.
- ↑ Diego Menjíbar, Malawi aids Israel by sending agricultural workers during the Hamas war El País, 30 November 2023.
- ↑ Lameck Masina, Malawi Parliament Allows Labor Export to Israel Voice of America, 16 February 2024.
- ↑ Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, Parliament for proper legal framework on labour export deal MBC, 16 February 2024.
- ↑ 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.