Difference between revisions of "Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Tanzania"
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{{short description|'''A small Jewish community served by three Chabad houses, ties restored in 1995 and a Tanzanian embassy in Tel Aviv from 2018, agricultural students killed on 7 October, and a UN record that backs Palestine'''}} | {{short description|'''A small Jewish community served by three Chabad houses, ties restored in 1995 and a Tanzanian embassy in Tel Aviv from 2018, agricultural students killed on 7 October, and a UN record that backs Palestine'''}} | ||
'''Tanzania''' has a Jewish community of several dozen people, most of them in Dar es Salaam. Thousands of Israeli and other Jewish tourists also pass through each year. [[Chabad-Lubavitch|Chabad]] runs centres in Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Zanzibar.<ref name="Chabad2025">Chabad.org Staff, [https://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/6903141/jewish/Chabad-of-Tanzania-Building-Jewish-Life-in-the-Heart-of-Africa.htm Chabad of Tanzania: Building Jewish Life in the Heart of Africa] ''Chabad.org'', 25 May 2025.</ref><ref name="ChabadArusha">Chabad of Arusha, [https://chabadtanzania.com/en/about/ About] ''chabadtanzania.com'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="ChabadZanzibar">Chabad of Zanzibar, [https://chabadzanzibar.com/en/about/ About and Contact] ''chabadzanzibar.com'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> Tanzania cut ties with "Israel" after the 1973 war and restored them in 1995.<ref name="ToI2016">Times of Israel Staff, [https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-first-tanzania-to-open-embassy-in-israel/ In first, Tanzania to open embassy in Israel] ''The Times of Israel'', 5 July 2016.</ref> Under President [[John Magufuli]] the relationship warmed. Tanzania opened an embassy in Tel Aviv in 2018 and helped the Zionist state at UNESCO in 2016.<ref name="Masima2021">Tovah Lazaroff, [https://www.il.tzembassy.go.tz/resources/view/how-have-israeli-tanzanian-ties-changed-in-the-last-five-years How Have Israeli-Tanzanian Ties Changed in the Last Five Years?] ''The Jerusalem Post'', 9 December 2021, republished by the Embassy of Tanzania in Tel Aviv.</ref> Two Tanzanian agricultural students on an Israeli training programme were killed in the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023.<ref name="BBC2023b">Wycliffe Muia and Alfred Lasteck, [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67713520 Joshua Mollel: Tanzania says student killed in Israel by Hamas] ''BBC News'', 14 December 2023.</ref> Tanzania has also voted for UN demands that "Israel" leave the occupied territories.<ref name="Citizen2024">Agencies, [https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/international/tanzania-supports-un-resolution-demanding-israel-s-withdrawal-from-gaza-4768688 Tanzania supports UN resolution demanding Israel's withdrawal from Gaza] ''The Citizen'', September 2024.</ref> | '''Tanzania''' has a Jewish community of several dozen people, most of them in Dar es Salaam. Thousands of Israeli and other Jewish tourists also pass through each year. [[Chabad-Lubavitch|Chabad]] runs centres in Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Zanzibar.<ref name="Chabad2025">Chabad.org Staff, [https://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/6903141/jewish/Chabad-of-Tanzania-Building-Jewish-Life-in-the-Heart-of-Africa.htm Chabad of Tanzania: Building Jewish Life in the Heart of Africa] ''Chabad.org'', 25 May 2025.</ref><ref name="ChabadArusha">Chabad of Arusha, [https://chabadtanzania.com/en/about/ About] ''chabadtanzania.com'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="ChabadZanzibar">Chabad of Zanzibar, [https://chabadzanzibar.com/en/about/ About and Contact] ''chabadzanzibar.com'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> Tanzania cut ties with "Israel" after the 1973 war and restored them in 1995.<ref name="ToI2016">Times of Israel Staff, [https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-first-tanzania-to-open-embassy-in-israel/ In first, Tanzania to open embassy in Israel] ''The Times of Israel'', 5 July 2016.</ref> Under President [[John Magufuli]] the relationship warmed. Tanzania opened an embassy in Tel Aviv in 2018 and helped the Zionist state at UNESCO in 2016.<ref name="Masima2021">Tovah Lazaroff, [https://www.il.tzembassy.go.tz/resources/view/how-have-israeli-tanzanian-ties-changed-in-the-last-five-years How Have Israeli-Tanzanian Ties Changed in the Last Five Years?] ''The Jerusalem Post'', 9 December 2021, republished by the Embassy of Tanzania in Tel Aviv.</ref> Two Tanzanian agricultural students on an Israeli training programme were killed in the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023.<ref name="BBC2023b">Wycliffe Muia and Alfred Lasteck, [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67713520 Joshua Mollel: Tanzania says student killed in Israel by Hamas] ''BBC News'', 14 December 2023.</ref> Tanzania has also voted for UN demands that "Israel" leave the occupied territories.<ref name="Citizen2024">Agencies, [https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/international/tanzania-supports-un-resolution-demanding-israel-s-withdrawal-from-gaza-4768688 Tanzania supports UN resolution demanding Israel's withdrawal from Gaza] ''The Citizen'', September 2024.</ref> | ||
Revision as of 15:58, 22 October 2026
A small Jewish community served by three Chabad houses, ties restored in 1995 and a Tanzanian embassy in Tel Aviv from 2018, agricultural students killed on 7 October, and a UN record that backs Palestine
Tanzania has a Jewish community of several dozen people, most of them in Dar es Salaam. Thousands of Israeli and other Jewish tourists also pass through each year. Chabad runs centres in Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Zanzibar.[1][2][3] Tanzania cut ties with "Israel" after the 1973 war and restored them in 1995.[4] Under President John Magufuli the relationship warmed. Tanzania opened an embassy in Tel Aviv in 2018 and helped the Zionist state at UNESCO in 2016.[5] Two Tanzanian agricultural students on an Israeli training programme were killed in the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023.[6] Tanzania has also voted for UN demands that "Israel" leave the occupied territories.[7]
Jewish community and religious life
History
According to Chabad, there have been Jews in Tanzania since the late 1800s, when Yemenite Jews and others founded a community. A generation later Eastern European Jews fleeing the Holocaust joined them. Instability and persecution later caused the community to all but disappear, and its synagogue was destroyed.[1] No independent account of this history, such as a World Jewish Congress community profile, was found.
The community today
In 2025 Chabad said the community had several dozen members, most of them in Dar es Salaam, and that thousands of Jewish travellers from "Israel" and elsewhere visit each year. It was working to build the country's first mikvah.[1]
How far is it Zionist? No Zionist body or Israeli fundraising group was found among Tanzania's small resident community. Much of the Jewish presence consists of travellers from "Israel" and elsewhere, whom the Chabad houses serve.[1][2] Chabad itself is a religious rather than a Zionist movement.
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad Lubavitch of Tanzania
Chabad has three centres in Tanzania:
- Dar es Salaam. Under Rabbi Shlomo Bentolila of Chabad of Central Africa, Rabbi Shimi and Chani Aziza moved to Tanzania and opened a Chabad House with a synagogue, kosher grocery and restaurant.[1] Lubavitch World Headquarters lists Chabad Lubavitch of Dar es Salaam as its Tanzania centre.[8]
- Arusha. Rabbi Meshiach and Yachel Kofchik founded a centre in 2021.[2]
- Zanzibar. Rabbi Mendi and Levana Neeman founded a centre in 2023.[3]
Tanzania is one of ten countries with permanent centres under Chabad of Central Africa.[9] The Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States lists no rabbi in Tanzania.[10]
Zionist movement and advocacy
No organised Zionist movement or pro-Israeli advocacy group was found in Tanzania.
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomatic relations
According to a 2021 Jerusalem Post article, Tanzania established relations with "Israel" in 1964.[5] A 2020 University of Dodoma dissertation says relations soured after the 1967 Arusha Declaration and the war of the same year. It also points to Tanzanian objections to the Zionist state's ties with apartheid South Africa.[11] Ties were cut after the 1973 war and restored in 1995. For years afterwards "Israel" handled Tanzania from its embassy in Nairobi.[4]
According to the dissertation:
- Relations were largely stagnant from 1995 until the Tanzania-Israel Business and Investment Forum began in 2014.
- On 4 November 2016 the Israeli embassy in Nairobi opened a visa centre in Dar es Salaam.
- Tanzania recognised the State of Palestine on 24 November 1988.[11]
In July 2016, at a meeting in Entebbe, foreign minister Augustine Mahiga gave Benjamin Netanyahu a letter from Magufuli announcing that Tanzania would open an embassy.[4] It opened in Tel Aviv in May 2018.[11]
Masima's account
In December 2021 Job Daudi Masima, Tanzania's first ambassador to "Israel", who was leaving his post, told the Jerusalem Post that ties had been dormant for about 20 years until Netanyahu's African push and Magufuli's election in 2015. He also described Tanzania's role at UNESCO in October 2016, when the World Heritage Committee considered a resolution on Jerusalem:
- Tanzania and Croatia called at the last moment for a secret ballot, which allowed more countries to oppose the text.
- The resolution passed, but with softer wording, and Netanyahu publicly thanked Tanzania.
- Masima said: "It was our vote that saved Israel".[5]
Masima also said:
- "Israel" mattered to Tanzania in medicine, agriculture, water, technology and security.
- There was close cooperation on terrorism.
- Both Avigdor Liberman, as defence minister, and Ayelet Shaked, as justice minister, had visited Tanzania.
- "Israel" should open an embassy in Tanzania.[5]
After Magufuli died in March 2021 he was succeeded by Samia Suluhu Hassan.[5]
Agricultural training
In late August 2023, 260 Tanzanian agriculture students left for 11 months of training at the Arava International Center for Agricultural Training in southern "Israel". The Daily News said the Israeli government sponsored the programme in collaboration with the Tanzanian government.[12] Tanzanian officials put the number of Tanzanians living in "Israel" at about 350, mostly students on agricultural courses.[6]
On 7 October 2023 about 36 Tanzanian students were living and working in Sderot and the kibbutzim of Mefalsim, Kissufim, Nahal Oz and Nir Oz. They had been brought to "Israel" by the company Agrostudies.[13] Two were killed:
- Clemence Felix Mtenga (22) was at Nir Oz.[14] He was first reported as a hostage. The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, citing a Haaretz investigation, says his body was in fact found inside "Israel" on 7 October and identified on 18 November.[13]
- Joshua Loitu Mollel (21) was at Nahal Oz. Tanzania's foreign minister, January Makamba, said in December 2023 that he had been killed immediately after being captured by Hamas.[6][15] In October 2024 his body was still being held in Gaza.[13]
The Hotline's report says the authorities' chaotic handling of the evacuation affected the students too. Students in Sderot were trapped for days before being evacuated, and students evacuated from the kibbutzim started at new workplaces five days later. Claims to the National Insurance Institute made after 1 April 2024 were judged under its regulations. Students who had kept working and had no medical evidence of injury were no longer eligible for compensation.[13]
Arms
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute records no Israeli arms deliveries to Tanzania.[16]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics records Israeli imports from Tanzania of $14.9 million in 2025 (2024: $10.9 million), and exports to Tanzania of $10.5 million (2024: $7.9 million).[17]
Migration and aliyah
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Tanzania separately in its table of immigrants by country of birth.[18] Movement to "Israel" is mainly temporary labour and training, through the agricultural student programmes.[12][13]
Political interference
Masima said that Tanzania's call for a secret ballot at UNESCO in 2016 had "saved Israel". This was the most direct case found of Tanzania acting for the Zionist state in a multilateral body.[5] More recently, Tanzania has voted the other way. In September 2024 it backed the first General Assembly resolution drafted by Palestine, which demanded that "Israel" end its unlawful presence in the occupied territories within a year.[7]
No credible sourced link between Jeffrey Epstein and Zionist or Israeli activity in Tanzania was found, so this page has no Epstein section.
See also
- Chabad Lubavitch of Tanzania
- Zionist movement
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Kenya
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Uganda
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Chabad.org Staff, Chabad of Tanzania: Building Jewish Life in the Heart of Africa Chabad.org, 25 May 2025.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chabad of Arusha, About chabadtanzania.com, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chabad of Zanzibar, About and Contact chabadzanzibar.com, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Times of Israel Staff, In first, Tanzania to open embassy in Israel The Times of Israel, 5 July 2016.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Tovah Lazaroff, How Have Israeli-Tanzanian Ties Changed in the Last Five Years? The Jerusalem Post, 9 December 2021, republished by the Embassy of Tanzania in Tel Aviv.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Wycliffe Muia and Alfred Lasteck, Joshua Mollel: Tanzania says student killed in Israel by Hamas BBC News, 14 December 2023.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Agencies, Tanzania supports UN resolution demanding Israel's withdrawal from Gaza The Citizen, September 2024.
- ↑ Lubavitch World Headquarters, Tanzania – Centers Lubavitch.com, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 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 (Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States-side).
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Richard Michael Chonjo, An Assessment of Tanzania's Foreign Policy and Her Relations with Israel MA dissertation, University of Dodoma, December 2020.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Daily News, 260 Tanzanian students dispatched to Israel for intensive agri-training Daily News (Tanzania), 28 August 2023.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Shira Abbo and Sigal Rozen, Caught in the Crossfire: Tanzanian Agriculture Students Caught up by the Gaza – Israel War Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, October 2024 (critical).
- ↑ Munira Hussein and Alex Smith, Tanzanian student taken hostage by Hamas confirmed dead BBC News, 17 November 2023.
- ↑ AFP, Tanzania Confirms Death of Student After Hamas Capture VOA Africa, 14 December 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) (Israeli government-side).
- ↑ 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 (Israeli government-side).