Difference between revisions of "Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Gabon"
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{{short description|'''Gabon's relations with the Zionist state, broken after 1973 and resumed in 1993, Israeli farm training, Magal's security contract for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, Israeli arms dealer Gaby Peretz, and a 2026 arms contract with an Israeli firm'''}} | {{short description|'''Gabon's relations with the Zionist state, broken after 1973 and resumed in 1993, Israeli farm training, Magal's security contract for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, Israeli arms dealer Gaby Peretz, and a 2026 arms contract with an Israeli firm'''}} | ||
'''Gabon''' established relations with "Israel" soon after independence in 1960. It cut them after the 1973 war and resumed them in 1993.<ref name="TIP2011">The Israel Project, [https://web.archive.org/web/20171201034701/http:/www.theisraelproject.org/gabon-and-israel-ties-of-friendship-and-commerce Gabon and Israel: Ties of Friendship and Commerce] ''theisraelproject.org'', 5 October 2011 (archived) (The Israel Project-side).</ref> Israeli companies have sold security systems and military equipment to the Gabonese state. In 2026 the military government of [[Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema]] was reported to have signed a €200 million arms contract with an Israeli firm.<ref name="DIG2026">Direct Infos Gabon, [https://directinfosgabon.com/defense-le-gabon-engage-131-milliards-de-fcfa-dans-un-contrat-darmement-avec-loperateur-israelien-ad-con/ Défense : Le Gabon engage 131 milliards de FCFA dans un contrat d'armement avec l'opérateur israélien AD Con] ''Direct Infos Gabon'', 23 June 2026.</ref> | '''Gabon''' established relations with "Israel" soon after independence in 1960. It cut them after the 1973 war and resumed them in 1993.<ref name="TIP2011">The Israel Project, [https://web.archive.org/web/20171201034701/http:/www.theisraelproject.org/gabon-and-israel-ties-of-friendship-and-commerce Gabon and Israel: Ties of Friendship and Commerce] ''theisraelproject.org'', 5 October 2011 (archived) (The Israel Project-side).</ref> Israeli companies have sold security systems and military equipment to the Gabonese state. In 2026 the military government of [[Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema]] was reported to have signed a €200 million arms contract with an Israeli firm.<ref name="DIG2026">Direct Infos Gabon, [https://directinfosgabon.com/defense-le-gabon-engage-131-milliards-de-fcfa-dans-un-contrat-darmement-avec-loperateur-israelien-ad-con/ Défense : Le Gabon engage 131 milliards de FCFA dans un contrat d'armement avec l'opérateur israélien AD Con] ''Direct Infos Gabon'', 23 June 2026.</ref> | ||
Latest revision as of 15:49, 22 October 2026
Gabon's relations with the Zionist state, broken after 1973 and resumed in 1993, Israeli farm training, Magal's security contract for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, Israeli arms dealer Gaby Peretz, and a 2026 arms contract with an Israeli firm
Gabon established relations with "Israel" soon after independence in 1960. It cut them after the 1973 war and resumed them in 1993.[1] Israeli companies have sold security systems and military equipment to the Gabonese state. In 2026 the military government of Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema was reported to have signed a €200 million arms contract with an Israeli firm.[2]
Jewish community and religious life
History
No historic Jewish community in Gabon was found in the sources consulted.
The community today
No organised Jewish community was found in Gabon.
How far is it Zionist? No Zionist or Israeli-linked communal body was found in Gabon.
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad-Lubavitch movement
Powerbase does not yet have a page on Chabad in Gabon, and no permanent Chabad centre was found there. Gabon 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 Gabon.[4]
Zionist movement and advocacy
No organised Zionist movement was found in Gabon. In 2011 The Israel Project, a US organisation that published The Tower magazine, shared unbranded content promoting "Israel" from the Act.il app on its social media feeds, and whose activities the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs paid Israeli media outlets to cover in 2017,[5][6] published a briefing on Gabon. At the time Gabon held a seat on the UN Security Council, and the group noted that it was "set to play a critical role in the Palestinian drive for state recognition".[1]
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomacy
According to The Israel Project, Gabon and other sub-Saharan states cut ties after the 1973 war "due to pressure from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)". Relations "picked up again" in 1993 and were managed from the Israeli embassy in Cameroon. The group listed friendship treaties, commerce agreements and visa waivers for diplomats.[1]
Agriculture
In 2010 "Israel" was training farmers in Gabon, as well as in Senegal and Ivory Coast.[7]
Security contracts
- 2011: The Israeli firm Magal Security Systems won a $35.5 million contract to provide an integrated security system for the 28th Africa Cup of Nations, which Gabon and Equatorial Guinea co-hosted in January 2012. Magal's chairman, Jacob Perry, called it "the largest project in our history".[8]
- Gaby Peretz: According to Ifri, the former Israeli air force lieutenant-colonel Gaby Peretz has been selling military equipment to West and Central African governments since the 1980s through his company AD Consultants. Gabon is among his main customers.[9]
- 2026: Citing Africa Intelligence, a Gabonese outlet reported that in mid-June 2026 Gabon finalised a contract for military equipment worth €200 million (about 131 billion CFA francs) with "AD Con, société israélienne spécialisée dans les solutions sécuritaires et les équipements tactiques". It linked the purchase to Oligui Nguema's restructuring of the security forces.[2]
Arms
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute records no Israeli deliveries of major weapons to Gabon.[10]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics records Israeli imports from Gabon of $0.1 million in 2025 (2024: $0.2 million), and exports to Gabon of $0.2 million (2024: $2.0 million).[11]
Migration and aliyah
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Gabon separately in its table of immigrants by country of birth.[12]
Political interference
No sourced case of Israeli political interference in Gabon was found.
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.[13] 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.[14][15] The records reviewed do not show whether the trip took place. Libreville was also on a second routing that April.[16] On 24 June 2012 Epstein wrote to Wade: "I understand that ali bongo might be coming to paris. , would be easier to talk", referring to Gabon's president, Ali Bongo Ondimba.[17]
BBC News Afrique counted 265 mentions of Gabon in the released files, and says that such mentions mostly reflect planned, postponed or cancelled trips and personal or business contacts.[18]
See also
- Zionist movement
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Cameroon
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Equatorial Guinea
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Israel Project, Gabon and Israel: Ties of Friendship and Commerce theisraelproject.org, 5 October 2011 (archived) (The Israel Project-side).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Direct Infos Gabon, Défense : Le Gabon engage 131 milliards de FCFA dans un contrat d'armement avec l'opérateur israélien AD Con Direct Infos Gabon, 23 June 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).
- ↑ Josh Nathan-Kazis, Shadowy Israeli App Turns American Jews Into Foot Soldiers In Online War, The Forward, 30 November 2017.
- ↑ Itamar Baz, צבא האמת של מדינת ישראל ("The State of Israel's army of truth"), The Seventh Eye, 24 December 2017, accessed 21 October 2026 (in Hebrew).
- ↑ Voice of America, Israel Teaches Irrigation Methods to Senegalese Farming Students VOA, 26 April 2010.
- ↑ Globes correspondent, Magal jumps on $35m African football deal Globes, 31 May 2011.
- ↑ Benjamin Augé, Israel-Africa Relations: What Can We Learn from the Netanyahu Decade? Études de l'Ifri, Ifri, November 2020.
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Email from Jeffrey Epstein to Karim Wade, 24 June 2012, US Department of Justice Epstein files release, Data Set 9, EFTA00938513 (mirror), accessed 21 October 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).