Israel–Samoa Relations

Development assistance is a central strand of the relationship, with cooperation addressing sustainable development, food security, public health, climate resilience, and poverty reduction.[1] Diplomatic engagement has included a 2019 visit to Israel by Samoa’s prime minister.[4] The countries signed a bilateral no-visa agreement during that visit and ratified a mutual visa-exemption agreement in 2023.[4][2] Additional discussions have addressed agriculture, water technology, energy, women’s empowerment, and regional security.[5]

Israel’s representation to Samoa has been non-resident and handled through its ambassador in New Zealand.[6] In 2019, Samoa had no ambassador to Israel but maintained a consulate in Tel Aviv.[4] The two countries have also participated in shared multilateral initiatives, including sponsorship of United Nations resolutions concerning cooperation with the Pacific Islands Forum.[7][8]

Published sources disagree on when Israel and Samoa established diplomatic relations. Israel’s official Wellington embassy timeline gives 1972.[9] The Jewish Virtual Library’s diplomatic-missions table gives June 1977, and its country account also gives 1977.[1][6] A Ynet report likewise gives 1977.[3] The cited sources do not resolve the discrepancy.

Samoan Prime Minister Susuga Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi made his first visit to Israel in 2019 and met President Reuven Rivlin.[4] During their meeting, Rivlin spoke of the countries’ support for one another in United Nations committees and other international forums, describing them as friends despite their distance and occasional disputes.[4] The visit also included the signing of a bilateral no-visa agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, allowing Samoan citizens to travel to Israel and Israelis to travel to Samoa without visas.[4] The countries ratified a mutual visa-exemption agreement in 2023.[2]

Geographic distance featured in the presidential meeting: Rivlin recalled regretting that he had not visited Samoa during an earlier journey to New Zealand and Tonga as Knesset speaker.[4] He explained that the absence of direct flights from Tonga would have made the additional journey too time-consuming, comparing the route to a flight from Tel Aviv to New York.[4] Malielegaoi also discussed Samoa’s 2011 change across the international date line, intended to improve trade with New Zealand and Australia by reducing time differences; Rivlin responded, “But Jerusalem remained the center.”[4]

In January 2026, Prime Minister La’auli Leuatea Schmidt announced that he had instructed Samoa’s Foreign Ministry to prepare to open an embassy in Jerusalem during the year.[3] Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the plan, and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar invited Schmidt to Israel to advance preparations.[5] Sa’ar also invited representatives of Samoa’s foreign ministry to Jerusalem to pursue the arrangements.[2] These announcements concerned a planned embassy and preparations for it, not confirmation that a mission had opened.[3][5]

Israel began providing insulin and diabetes-related medical supplies to Samoa through Insulin for Life in 2011.[1] That year, it also donated a portable General Electric Vscan ultrasound device.[1] Subsequent financial assistance supported the Samoan Victim Support Group, including assistance after Cyclone Evan in 2013.[1]

Agricultural cooperation during the 2010s and early 2020s included participation by Samoan officials and professionals in regional MASHAV training through the Israel–Pacific Food Security Alliance Program.[1] Instruction covered irrigation, fertigation, and agricultural extension.[1] Cooperation also included educational exchanges and a 2012 donation of sports equipment to Samoa’s football federation.[1]

Energy and clean technology have formed additional areas of engagement.[5][10] In October 2021, Israeli Ambassador Ran Yaakoby and New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta discussed climate cooperation and Israel’s donation of clean-technology systems to Samoa and Tonga.[10] MASHAV’s work in Samoa has included training and support in energy.[5][2]

Israeli officials have identified agriculture, women’s empowerment, water technology, and regional security as possible areas for further cooperation. After meeting Schmidt, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel described Israel and Samoa as sharing “a very special bond” and said there were several fields in which they could cooperate.[5]

Israel and Samoa jointly sponsored a 2001 General Assembly draft resolution titled “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Pacific Islands Forum,” which became resolution A/RES/56/41.[7] Both countries also sponsored a 2019 draft on the same subject, resulting in resolution A/RES/73/332.[8] These sponsorships document participation in shared multilateral initiatives rather than bilateral agreements.[7][8]

Samoa abstained in the General Assembly vote on a resolution calling on Israel and the Palestinians to investigate charges made in the Goldstone report on the Gaza war.[11] The vote was 114 in favor, 18 against, and 44 abstentions; Israel rejected the vote, and the resolution was nonbinding.[11] In the 2026 conversation with Schmidt, Sa’ar expressed appreciation for Samoa’s support of Israel at the United Nations.[5]

Public expressions of support have also been reported outside official diplomacy.[12] An Israeli visitor described seeing Israeli flags flying alongside Samoan flags and encountering local Christians supportive of Israel.[12] These observations were an individual visitor’s account rather than a measure of public opinion across Samoa.[12]

The planned Jerusalem embassy drew criticism from Samoan activist Kenty Masinalupa, who linked her objections to Samoa’s history of resistance to foreign colonial rule.[13] The diplomatic setting is sensitive: Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, while most countries maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv.[13]

Sources also disagree on the establishment date of diplomatic relations. Israel’s official Wellington embassy timeline gives 1972, while Jewish Virtual Library and Ynet accounts give 1977, with one table specifying June 1977.[9][6] The available sources do not explain or reconcile the difference.[1][3]

Descriptions of Samoa’s United Nations voting record also differ.[13] Israeli officials have praised Samoa’s support in international forums, including Sa’ar’s expression of appreciation in 2026, while other reporting characterizes Samoa as not traditionally among Israel’s most consistent supporters.[5][13] These characterizations do not identify a common period or voting measure and should be distinguished from individual documented votes.[13]