Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone's ties with the Zionist state since 1961, its 2023 pledge to open an embassy in Jerusalem, and the Koidu diamond mine held through companies controlled by Beny Steinmetz, whose stones were priced in the Zionist state
Sierra Leone established relations with "Israel" in 1961, suspended them in 1973 and restored them in 1992. In 2023 President Julius Maada Bio pledged to open an embassy in Jerusalem.[1] The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reported in 2016 that the Koidu diamond mine was owned through offshore companies controlled by the Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz and his family. The mine has been the subject of protests and complaints.[2]
Jewish community and religious life
History
No historic Jewish community in Sierra Leone was found in the sources consulted.
The community today
No organised Jewish community was found in Sierra Leone.
How far is it Zionist? No Jewish or Zionist body was found in Sierra Leone.
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad-Lubavitch movement
Powerbase does not yet have a page on Chabad in Sierra Leone, and no permanent Chabad centre was found there. Sierra Leone is not among the ten countries with permanent centres under Chabad of Central Africa.[3] The Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States lists no rabbi in Sierra Leone.[4]
Zionist movement and advocacy
No organised Zionist movement was found in Sierra Leone.
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomacy
- Relations were restored in May 1992.[5] "Israel" has no embassy in Sierra Leone and is represented by its ambassador in Ghana.[1]
- In August 2023, after a call with Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Bio's office said he was ready to open an embassy in Jerusalem. The Times of Israel said this made Sierra Leone the sixth country to commit to doing so.[1]
- When Ambassador Roey Gilad presented his credentials to Bio, he described the 2017 visit to "Israel" by the former president Ernest Bai Koroma as "a turning point".[6]
Diamonds
- According to the ICIJ, Koidu Limited is owned by Octea Mining, which is in turn owned by offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands, Guernsey and Liechtenstein "controlled by billionaire Israeli mining magnate Benjamin Steinmetz and his family". Tiffany & Co. lent the company tens of millions of dollars for rights to the stones. Police killed two people during protests over working conditions in 2007 and two more in 2012, including a 12-year-old boy. In 2015 the government threatened to revoke the company's licence over missed loan repayments.[2]
- Khadija Sharife and Silas Gbandia of the African Network of Centers for Investigative Reporting described Steinmetz as Sierra Leone's biggest private investor. They wrote that dealings within the Steinmetz group "seem to indicate undervaluing" of the country's diamond exports. A 2015 corporate chart shows Octea as wholly owned by Guernsey-based BSG Resources.[7]
- Africa Confidential reported in 2016 that Koidu's diamonds were regularly consigned via Geneva to Penford (Israel) Ltd, part of the Steinmetz company Diacor International. There the stones were cleaned and their final prices set before sale to buyers in Belgium, India and "Israel". Sales were also overseen by Infinite Diam, founded by Patrick Saada, Steinmetz's brother-in-law and a former chairman of Koidu Holdings.[8]
- Ifri notes that Steinmetz bought mines in Sierra Leone through Beny Steinmetz Group Resources.[9]
- According to Israeli cables published by Haaretz, the Israeli ambassador in Liberia, Yeshurun Schiff, asked his counterpart in Sierra Leone to help a Liberian UN representative obtain a permit to search for diamonds there. Schiff wrote of the Liberian: "He is a great friend of ours, he makes fiery speeches in our favor."[10]
Arms
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute records no Israeli deliveries of major weapons to Sierra Leone.[11]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Sierra Leone separately in its main table of trade by country. Sierra Leone falls under "Other Countries".[12]
Migration and aliyah
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Sierra Leone separately in its table of immigrants by country of birth.[13]
Political interference
Jeffrey Epstein
In June 2011 Jeffrey Epstein asked the US State Department for a second passport, citing business trips in the coming weeks to France, Sierra Leone, Mali and Gabon.[14] Emails released by the Justice Department show the trip being planned as an "Africa Tour" with Karim Wade, son of Senegal's then president, and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem of DP World. Wade's proposed agenda of 2 May 2011 had Senegal on 16–17 May, Mali on 17 May, Sierra Leone on 18 May and Gabon on 19 May.[15][16] The records reviewed do not show whether the trip took place.
BBC News Afrique counted 88 mentions of Sierra Leone in the released files, and says that such mentions mostly reflect planned, postponed or cancelled trips and personal or business contacts.[17]
See also
- Beny Steinmetz
- Lev Leviev
- Dan Gertler
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Liberia
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Guinea
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Times of Israel Staff, Sierra Leone to open embassy in Jerusalem The Times of Israel, 25 August 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cooper Inveen, Khadija Sharife, Will Fitzgibbon and Michael Hudson, Diamond Mine with Offshore Ties Leaves Trail of Complaints International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, 25 July 2016.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Latest Diplomatic Relations Tie Israel to Belarus, Sierra Leone JTA, 28 May 1992.
- ↑ Embassy of Israel in Ghana, Ambassador Roey Gilad Presents Credentials To President Julius Maada Bio embassies.gov.il, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Khadija Sharife and Silas Gbandia, Flaws in Sierra Leone's diamond trade African Network of Centers for Investigative Reporting, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Africa probes the Panama connection Africa Confidential, 15 April 2016.
- ↑ Benjamin Augé, Israel-Africa Relations: What Can We Learn from the Netanyahu Decade? Études de l'Ifri, Ifri, November 2020.
- ↑ Eitay Mack, Weapons, Training and Cash: Israel Bribed Liberian Officials for Years, Cables Reveal Haaretz, 28 April 2023.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ James Hill and Thomas Volscho, Records show Jeffrey Epstein's requests for multiple passports, travels to Africa and Middle East ABC News, 15 January 2024.
- ↑ Email to Jeffrey Epstein forwarding Karim Wade, "Africa Tour", 2 May 2011, US Department of Justice Epstein files release, Data Set 10, EFTA01796777 (mirror), accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Kevin G. Hall and Zack Kopplin, Epstein Made Efforts to Free the Son of Senegal's Former President After Corruption Conviction OCCRP, 10 February 2026.
- ↑ Isidore Kouwonou, Ce que les documents dans l'affaire Epstein révèlent sur l'Afrique et certaines personnalités BBC News Afrique, 25 February 2026 (in French).