Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Niger
Niger's twice-broken relations with the Zionist state: suspended in the early 1970s, restored in 1996, broken again in April 2002 in solidarity with the Palestinians, and not restored since
Niger has no diplomatic relations with "Israel". It broke them in April 2002, saying it "remained in complete solidarity with the martyred, brother people of Palestine".[1] In 2019 its foreign minister said there could be no relations "in the context of the occupation of Palestine".[2]
Jewish community and religious life
History
No historic Jewish community in Niger was found in the sources consulted.
The community today
No organised Jewish community was found in Niger.
How far is it Zionist? No Jewish or Zionist body was found in Niger.
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad-Lubavitch movement
Powerbase does not yet have a page on Chabad in Niger, and the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States lists no rabbi there.[3]
Zionist movement and advocacy
No organised Zionist movement was found in Niger.
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomacy
- Niger first broke relations in the early 1970s. A US State Department intelligence paper of January 1973 lists Niger's break as taking place in December 1972, after Chad's in November.[4] Gulf News dates the first suspension to the 1973 war.[1] Ifri puts it between 1972 and 1973.[5]
- The Israeli foreign ministry records that Niger renewed relations in November 1996 and severed them in April 2002.[6] Gulf News reported that ties had been restored after Israelis and Palestinians "agreed to work towards peace". It said the 2002 break was "largely symbolic": "Israel" had no embassy in Niger, there was little trade, and it was not among Niger's big aid donors.[1]
- In January 2019, after reports of a possible resumption, Foreign Minister Kalla Ankouraou told the news site Actuniger: "Il ne peut y avoir des relations diplomatiques avec Israël dans le contexte d'occupation de la Palestine" ("There can be no diplomatic relations with Israel in the context of the occupation of Palestine"). He added that restoring relations would require preconditions.[2]
- In 2020 Ifri listed Niger among the African states that oppose relations.[5]
Arms
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute records no Israeli deliveries of major weapons to Niger.[7]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Niger separately in its main table of trade by country. Niger falls under "Other Countries".[8]
Migration and aliyah
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Niger separately in its table of immigrants by country of birth.[9]
Political interference
Jeffrey Epstein
A routing for a proposed "Africa Tour" sent to Jeffrey Epstein on 15 April 2011 included stops at Dakar, Bamako, Niamey, Libreville, Lomé, Abidjan and Conakry, and asked him to confirm which cities he wanted to visit.[10] The records reviewed do not show that he went.
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Chad
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Nigeria
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Burkina Faso
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Algeria
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Libya
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Niger cuts ties with Israel Gulf News, 24 April 2002.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nadia Chahed, Le Niger nie toute intention de rétablir ses relations avec Israël (MAE) Anadolu Agency, 25 January 2019.
- ↑ Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, The Rabbis rabbisalliance.org, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Bureau of Intelligence and Research, US Department of State, West Africa: Arab Influence Grows US Department of State, 26 January 1973.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Benjamin Augé, Israel-Africa Relations: What Can We Learn from the Netanyahu Decade? Études de l'Ifri, Ifri, November 2020.
- ↑ Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations mfa.gov.il, archived 5 August 2011.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Email to Jeffrey Epstein, "Africa Tour routing", 15 April 2011, US Department of Justice Epstein files release, Data Set 10, EFTA01866037 (mirror), accessed 21 October 2026.