Difference between revisions of "Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Namibia"
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{{short description|'''A Windhoek Jewish community of about 100, a Chabad house, Lev Leviev's and Beny Steinmetz's diamond factories, Geingob's attack on Germany's defence of the Zionist state at the ICJ, and the 2024 refusal of an explosives ship'''}} | {{short description|'''A Windhoek Jewish community of about 100, a Chabad house, Lev Leviev's and Beny Steinmetz's diamond factories, Geingob's attack on Germany's defence of the Zionist state at the ICJ, and the 2024 refusal of an explosives ship'''}} | ||
'''Namibia''' has a Jewish community of about 100 people, nearly all in Windhoek.<ref name="WJCNA">World Jewish Congress, [https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/NA Community in Namibia] ''World Jewish Congress'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> [[Chabad-Lubavitch|Chabad]] also has a house in the capital.<ref name="ChNamibia">Chabad of Namibia, [https://chabadnamibia.com/en/ Chabad of Namibia] ''chabadnamibia.com'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> The main Israeli economic link is diamonds. In 2004 [[Lev Leviev]] opened what President [[Sam Nujoma]] called the largest diamond-cutting factory in Africa. A [[Beny Steinmetz]] factory also operated in Windhoek.<ref name="Idex2004">Chaim Even-Zohar, [https://www.idexonline.com/mobile/FullArticle?Id=22725 Namibian PM Accuses De Beers Of Misleading Nation, Calls Upon Producers To Establish Domestic Cutting Factories] ''IDEX Online'', 30 June 2004.</ref> In January 2024 President [[Hage Geingob]] attacked Germany for intervening on the side of "Israel" in South Africa's genocide case at the [[International Court of Justice]]. He invoked Germany's genocide of the Herero and Nama in 1904–08.<ref name="AJ2024">Al Jazeera, [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/14/namibia-condemns-germany-for-defending-israel-in-icj-genocide-case Namibia condemns Germany for defending Israel in ICJ genocide case] ''Al Jazeera'', 14 January 2024.</ref> In August 2024 Namibia refused port access to a ship carrying explosives bound for "Israel".<ref name="BBC2024">Wycliffe Muia, [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20rgvqr37ro Namibia blocks ship over Israel war-crime concerns] ''BBC News'', 27 August 2024.</ref> | '''Namibia''' has a Jewish community of about 100 people, nearly all in Windhoek.<ref name="WJCNA">World Jewish Congress, [https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/NA Community in Namibia] ''World Jewish Congress'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> [[Chabad-Lubavitch|Chabad]] also has a house in the capital.<ref name="ChNamibia">Chabad of Namibia, [https://chabadnamibia.com/en/ Chabad of Namibia] ''chabadnamibia.com'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> The main Israeli economic link is diamonds. In 2004 [[Lev Leviev]] opened what President [[Sam Nujoma]] called the largest diamond-cutting factory in Africa. A [[Beny Steinmetz]] factory also operated in Windhoek.<ref name="Idex2004">Chaim Even-Zohar, [https://www.idexonline.com/mobile/FullArticle?Id=22725 Namibian PM Accuses De Beers Of Misleading Nation, Calls Upon Producers To Establish Domestic Cutting Factories] ''IDEX Online'', 30 June 2004.</ref> In January 2024 President [[Hage Geingob]] attacked Germany for intervening on the side of "Israel" in South Africa's genocide case at the [[International Court of Justice]]. He invoked Germany's genocide of the Herero and Nama in 1904–08.<ref name="AJ2024">Al Jazeera, [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/14/namibia-condemns-germany-for-defending-israel-in-icj-genocide-case Namibia condemns Germany for defending Israel in ICJ genocide case] ''Al Jazeera'', 14 January 2024.</ref> In August 2024 Namibia refused port access to a ship carrying explosives bound for "Israel".<ref name="BBC2024">Wycliffe Muia, [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20rgvqr37ro Namibia blocks ship over Israel war-crime concerns] ''BBC News'', 27 August 2024.</ref> | ||
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===Chabad=== | ===Chabad=== | ||
:''Main article: [[Chabad Lubavitch of Namibia]]'' | :''Main article: [[Chabad Lubavitch of Namibia]]'' | ||
| − | Rabbi Yosef and Mushka Rachimi (also spelled Rahimi) run Chabad of Namibia in Windhoek. Its website is in Hebrew and English.<ref name="ChNamibia" /> The [[Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States]] lists no rabbi in Namibia.<ref name="ARIS">Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, [https://www.rabbisalliance.org/about/the-rabbis/ The Rabbis] ''rabbisalliance.org'', accessed 21 October 2026 | + | Rabbi Yosef and Mushka Rachimi (also spelled Rahimi) run Chabad of Namibia in Windhoek. Its website is in Hebrew and English.<ref name="ChNamibia" /> The [[Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States]] lists no rabbi in Namibia.<ref name="ARIS">Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, [https://www.rabbisalliance.org/about/the-rabbis/ The Rabbis] ''rabbisalliance.org'', accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> |
==Zionist movement and advocacy== | ==Zionist movement and advocacy== | ||
| Line 25: | Line 26: | ||
==Israeli state and commercial ties== | ==Israeli state and commercial ties== | ||
===Diplomatic relations=== | ===Diplomatic relations=== | ||
| − | Namibia and "Israel" established relations in 1994. "Israel" has no embassy in Windhoek. The [[World Jewish Congress|WJC]] says it is represented through its ambassador in Zimbabwe.<ref name="WJCNA" /> In 2023 the non-resident ambassador, [[Ofra Farhi]], was described as a roving ambassador to Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.<ref name="AJC2023">AJC Global Voice, [https://www.lusakatimes.com/2023/09/08/is-zambia-the-next-big-frontier-in-israel-africa-relations/ Is Zambia the next big frontier in Israel-Africa relations?] ''Lusaka Times'', 8 September 2023 | + | Namibia and "Israel" established relations in 1994. "Israel" has no embassy in Windhoek. The [[World Jewish Congress|WJC]] says it is represented through its ambassador in Zimbabwe.<ref name="WJCNA" /> In 2023 the non-resident ambassador, [[Ofra Farhi]], was described as a roving ambassador to Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.<ref name="AJC2023">AJC Global Voice, [https://www.lusakatimes.com/2023/09/08/is-zambia-the-next-big-frontier-in-israel-africa-relations/ Is Zambia the next big frontier in Israel-Africa relations?] ''Lusaka Times'', 8 September 2023.</ref> |
===Diamonds: Leviev and Steinmetz=== | ===Diamonds: Leviev and Steinmetz=== | ||
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===Trade=== | ===Trade=== | ||
| − | The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics records Israeli imports from Namibia of $8.3 million in 2025 (2024: $12.1 million; 2023: $26.1 million), and exports to Namibia of $2.0 million (2024: $1.4 million).<ref name="CBS">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2026/fr_trade12_2025/td1.pdf Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports] ''CBS'', December 2025 issue (library copy | + | The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics records Israeli imports from Namibia of $8.3 million in 2025 (2024: $12.1 million; 2023: $26.1 million), and exports to Namibia of $2.0 million (2024: $1.4 million).<ref name="CBS">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2026/fr_trade12_2025/td1.pdf Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports] ''CBS'', December 2025 issue (library copy).</ref> The table does not break the figures down by commodity. |
==Migration and aliyah== | ==Migration and aliyah== | ||
| − | The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Namibia separately in its table of immigrants by country of birth.<ref name="CBSAliyah">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2024/2.ShnatonPopulation/st02_55.pdf Statistical Abstract of Israel 2024, Table 2.55: Immigrants, by period of immigration, country of birth and last country of residence] ''CBS'', 2024 | + | The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Namibia separately in its table of immigrants by country of birth.<ref name="CBSAliyah">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2024/2.ShnatonPopulation/st02_55.pdf Statistical Abstract of Israel 2024, Table 2.55: Immigrants, by period of immigration, country of birth and last country of residence] ''CBS'', 2024.</ref> |
==Political interference== | ==Political interference== | ||
Latest revision as of 05:25, 23 October 2026
A Windhoek Jewish community of about 100, a Chabad house, Lev Leviev's and Beny Steinmetz's diamond factories, Geingob's attack on Germany's defence of the Zionist state at the ICJ, and the 2024 refusal of an explosives ship
Namibia has a Jewish community of about 100 people, nearly all in Windhoek.[1] Chabad also has a house in the capital.[2] The main Israeli economic link is diamonds. In 2004 Lev Leviev opened what President Sam Nujoma called the largest diamond-cutting factory in Africa. A Beny Steinmetz factory also operated in Windhoek.[3] In January 2024 President Hage Geingob attacked Germany for intervening on the side of "Israel" in South Africa's genocide case at the International Court of Justice. He invoked Germany's genocide of the Herero and Nama in 1904–08.[4] In August 2024 Namibia refused port access to a ship carrying explosives bound for "Israel".[5]
Jewish community and religious life
History
The first Jews in the region were the De Pass brothers, merchants from Cape Town. They set up a trading post on the Namaqualand coast and founded the Pomona Copper Company in 1861.[1] More Jews arrived after German colonisation in 1884. The German-Jewish banker Carl Fürstenberg helped develop the diamond industry and financed the railway from Lüderitz.[1][6] The community grew again under the South African mandate after the First World War.[1]
Namibia's first synagogue, in Swakopmund, burned down in 1916.[6] The Windhoek community organised from 1917. The cornerstone of the Windhoek Hebrew Congregation's synagogue was laid on 31 August 1924, and the synagogue is still in use.[6][7] Chabad's heritage page says that:
- the community peaked at about 450 members around 1965;
- Keetmanshoop once had about 12 Jewish families and a synagogue, which still stands but is no longer used.[6]
The population fell sharply after the Second World War and up to independence in 1990.[1]
The community today
The World Jewish Congress and the Commonwealth Jewish Council both put the community at about 100. They say diamond-cutting factories in Windhoek have brought a small regrowth.[1][8] The Windhoek Hebrew Congregation, the WJC affiliate, runs an Orthodox synagogue. It has no resident rabbi. The South African travelling rabbi, Moshe Silberhaft, serves when he can. The community is affiliated to the African Jewish Congress.[1]
How far is it Zionist? The older community had ties to "Israel". Chabad says that in 1959, 160 students raised money to plant trees in Israeli forests.[6] The WJC and CJC both say "Israel" is heavily invested in Namibia's diamond industry, and Windhoek is twinned with Kiryat Telshe Stone, near Jerusalem.[1][8] No present-day Zionist federation was found.
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad Lubavitch of Namibia
Rabbi Yosef and Mushka Rachimi (also spelled Rahimi) run Chabad of Namibia in Windhoek. Its website is in Hebrew and English.[2] The Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States lists no rabbi in Namibia.[9]
Zionist movement and advocacy
No organised Zionist movement or pro-Israeli advocacy group was found in present-day Namibia.
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomatic relations
Namibia and "Israel" established relations in 1994. "Israel" has no embassy in Windhoek. The WJC says it is represented through its ambassador in Zimbabwe.[1] In 2023 the non-resident ambassador, Ofra Farhi, was described as a roving ambassador to Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.[10]
Diamonds: Leviev and Steinmetz
On 28 June 2004 Sam Nujoma and Lev Leviev opened the LLD Diamonds Namibia cutting and polishing factory in Windhoek.[11] IDEX Online reported that:
- Nujoma called it "the largest in the whole of Africa", with room for 550 workers at full capacity.
- The opening was combined with the launch of Samicor, an offshore mining company formed from the bankrupt Namco.
- The Leviev Group had invested $60 million in Namibia.
- Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab praised Leviev and accused De Beers of misleading the nation. He said: "The diamonds in Namibia belong to the Namibian people".
- Another large factory in Windhoek, Namcot, was owned by the Steinmetz Group and employed about 100 people.[3]
In 2008 JCK reported that Steinmetz held sights in both Namibia and Botswana.[12]
Arms
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute records no Israeli arms deliveries to Namibia.[13]
The MV Kathrin
On 24 August 2024 Namibia denied the German-owned, Portuguese-flagged cargo ship MV Kathrin access to Walvis Bay. The ship was reported to be carrying 60 containers of TNT and eight containers of hexogen explosives.[14] The police had granted a docking permit on 13 August. The documents filed gave the route as Haiphong, Vietnam, to Koper, Slovenia. The police revoked the permit after finding that RDX hexogen explosives on board were destined for "Israel".[15] Justice Minister Yvonne Dausab told state media the ship carried "explosive material destined for Israel".[5]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics records Israeli imports from Namibia of $8.3 million in 2025 (2024: $12.1 million; 2023: $26.1 million), and exports to Namibia of $2.0 million (2024: $1.4 million).[16] The table does not break the figures down by commodity.
Migration and aliyah
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Namibia separately in its table of immigrants by country of birth.[17]
Political interference
Geingob and the ICJ
On 13 January 2024 Geingob condemned Germany's decision to intervene as a third party for "Israel" in the ICJ case brought by South Africa. He said that Germany had "chosen to defend in the ICJ the genocidal and gruesome acts of the Israeli government" and added:
- "Germany cannot morally express commitment to the United Nations Convention against genocide, including atonement for the genocide in Namibia, whilst supporting the equivalent of a holocaust and genocide in Gaza."[4][18]
Geingob was referring to German colonial forces' killing of tens of thousands of Herero and Nama between 1904 and 1908, which is recognised as the first genocide of the 20th century.[4]
No case of Israeli political interference in Namibia was found.
No credible sourced link between Jeffrey Epstein and Zionist or Israeli activity in Namibia was found, so this page has no Epstein section.
See also
- Chabad Lubavitch of Namibia
- Lev Leviev
- Beny Steinmetz
- Zionist movement
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to South Africa
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Angola
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 World Jewish Congress, Community in Namibia World Jewish Congress, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chabad of Namibia, Chabad of Namibia chabadnamibia.com, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chaim Even-Zohar, Namibian PM Accuses De Beers Of Misleading Nation, Calls Upon Producers To Establish Domestic Cutting Factories IDEX Online, 30 June 2004.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Al Jazeera, Namibia condemns Germany for defending Israel in ICJ genocide case Al Jazeera, 14 January 2024.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Wycliffe Muia, Namibia blocks ship over Israel war-crime concerns BBC News, 27 August 2024.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Chabad of Namibia, Heritage chabadnamibia.com, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Jay A. Waronker, Windhoek Hebrew Congregation African Synagogues, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Commonwealth Jewish Council, Namibia Commonwealth Jewish Council, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, The Rabbis rabbisalliance.org, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ AJC Global Voice, Is Zambia the next big frontier in Israel-Africa relations? Lusaka Times, 8 September 2023.
- ↑ Allgemeine Zeitung, Zeitenwende einer Industrie Allgemeine Zeitung, 29 June 2004.
- ↑ Rob Bates, Botswana adds 16 sightholders JCK, 1 January 2008.
- ↑ Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Arms Transfers Database SIPRI, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Stefan Talmon, Namibia Denies Port Access to German-Owned Vessel Carrying Military Equipment to Israel German Practice in International Law, 29 August 2024.
- ↑ Martin Endjala, Israel bound military cargo vessel denied docking in Walvis Bay Windhoek Observer, August 2024.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Donald Matthys, Namibia slams Germany's support of Israel against genocide claim The Namibian, 14 January 2024.