Israel–Zambia Relations

Israel–Zambia relations have combined diplomacy with practical cooperation since the 1960s. After an early period centered on agricultural development, ties were severed in 1973 and restored in 1991; Zambia opened an embassy in Tel Aviv in 2015, and Israel opened a resident embassy in Lusaka in 2025.[1][2]

Current cooperation includes agriculture, health, water management, technology, professional training, and commercial investment.[1][3]

Zambia gained independence from Britain in 1964, and Israel and Zambia established formal diplomatic ties in 1966.[1] Their early relationship developed during a broader Israeli effort to cultivate cooperation with newly independent African states.

Israeli engagement with Africa during this period was shaped by nation-building and development policy, as well as political, economic, and social agendas shared with a number of postcolonial states.[4] In Zambia, this engagement soon produced a substantial program of agricultural and technical assistance.

The most consequential initiative of the early relationship was a large-scale agricultural development program in Zambia's Copperbelt, the country's copper-mining heartland. After independence, rapid urban migration contributed to unemployment, and President Kenneth Kaunda sought to return people to the land and develop cooperative farms.[5] In 1966, Kaunda asked Israel to send experts to survey the Copperbelt and prepare a regional settlement plan.[6]

Israel dispatched a first team that worked in Zambia until 1969, organizing settlers and training local instructors.[5] A second team arrived in 1969 and founded settlements at Kafulafuta and Kafubu before departing in 1970; each settlement comprised several villages with approximately 500 family units.[6][5] Residents raised corn and vegetables, built chicken coops, and received general services — covering farming, marketing, education, health, and culture — from a regional center.[6] The National Library of Israel catalogs a document titled Preliminary survey report of the Israeli mission to the Western Province of Zambia: Nov.–Dec. 1969, authored by Y. Abt, S. Gefen, and E. Sela, documenting an Israeli mission to the province during that period.[7]

A third Israeli team arrived in 1970 to guide agricultural production and marketing and to extend work in education, health, and culture.[6] The project was intended as a model for other Zambian initiatives. When Kaunda visited the settlements in 1971, he praised the achievement as one "every country would be proud of" and said Zambia was close to finding the solution it had sought since independence.[5] The project gave regional farmers what the account described as a reasonable standard of living and became a showcase of Zambia's agrarian policies.[6]

Zambia severed diplomatic relations with Israel in 1973, following the Yom Kippur War.[8] The break was part of a sweeping regional realignment: Zambia was among approximately 25 African countries that cut ties with Israel following the war.[8] Regionally, the Organization of African Unity's Egypt-sponsored resolution and promises of cheap oil and financial support from Arab states were identified as factors behind the collective African response, although the available sources do not establish a single Zambia-specific motive.[9]

When relations ended, Israel recalled the eight-person expert team working on the Copperbelt project.[6] The impact of that withdrawal was felt quickly inside Zambia. Zambian media and members of parliament periodically called for the Israelis to return. A 1976 newspaper headline captured the sentiment plainly: "Bring Back the Israeli Experts."[6] In a parliamentary comment cited by Arye Oded, a legislator reportedly observed that "ten of them" had accomplished more than the thousands of foreign advisers then working in Zambia.[5]

The diplomatic rupture lasted nearly two decades. Most sub-Saharan African countries that had broken relations with Israel eventually renewed them, though on varying timelines.[8]

Zambia restored diplomatic relations with Israel on December 26, 1991, following Frederick Chiluba's election victory.[2] Arye Oded's account says the restoration followed immediately after Chiluba's election. When Oded presented his ambassadorial credentials, Chiluba told him that a desire to renew Israel's MASHAV development-cooperation program was one reason behind the decision.[5] The American Jewish Committee attributed the earlier break to pressure from Soviet-backed Arab states and reported that Chiluba's government moved swiftly to reopen the relationship.[1]

Before Israel opened its Lusaka embassy in 2025, it relied on non-resident representation. A diplomatic table updated in 2016 listed Zambia as represented by Israel's ambassador in Kenya, while a later account said the Israeli ambassador in Harare represented Zambia; the available sources do not clearly date the change between those arrangements.[10][11]

The relationship entered a more active phase after Zambia opened its first official embassy in Israel in September 2015. The dedication ceremony was attended by Zambian Foreign Minister Harry Kalaba and Dore Gold, director general of Israel's Foreign Ministry; Kalaba also met Israeli officials and company representatives interested in doing business with Zambia.[11] The embassy's opening coincided with a broad expansion of commercial activity: from 2015, Zambia entered into deals with Israeli companies worth billions of shekels, spanning security, agriculture, health, water projects, construction, and infrastructure.[3]

Major Israeli business transactions concluded around this period included a 2017 security-equipment deal by Elbit Systems valued at $240 million, a 2016 construction project by Ashtrum worth approximately $200 million, and a 2017 agricultural-farms and infrastructure project by Tahal and ZRB valued at approximately $176 million.[3] By August 2022, however, Zambia was behind on payments for at least six deals: overdue amounts reached roughly $166 million, with overdue and future payments potentially totaling about $292 million.[3] Israel's state export-credit insurer, Ashra, had paid more than half a billion shekels to cover claims arising from Israeli firms' work in Zambia, with about 80 percent of that amount reimbursed by overseas reinsurers.[3]

In February 2017, Zambian President Edgar Lungu and a large delegation of government ministers visited Israel for five days.[9] At a joint press conference, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would send experts to Zambia to assist with alternative energy, water, and other areas.[9] A memorandum of understanding between Israel's Nature and Parks Authority and Zambia's Ministry of Tourism and Arts was signed in 2019.[12]

Israel's development agency MASHAV has repeatedly served as a major channel for bilateral cooperation, particularly in agriculture, medicine, and professional training. Its work in Zambia was suspended after the 1973 diplomatic break and renewed after relations were restored.

In May 2014, a MASHAV-organized medical delegation of two Israeli ophthalmologists and a nurse completed a ten-day eye camp at Mpika Hospital, located roughly 900 kilometers from Lusaka. Working alongside local medical staff, the team screened more than 1,000 patients and performed sight-restoring cataract surgery.[13] The camp was jointly organized by MASHAV and Zambia's honorary consul in Israel, Ronit Herskovitz, following a fact-finding mission the previous year to assess eye disease in the region.[13]

In January 2018, Israeli specialists arrived in Zambia to assist during a serious cholera outbreak, bringing clean-water technologies, food, aid, and medical supplies.[9] When drought and another cholera crisis struck Zambia in 2024, the American Jewish Committee provided a grant to the Israeli NGO Tevel to deliver food aid.[14] Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, addressing AJC's Global Forum in April 2025, expressed gratitude for support during what he called Zambia's worst drought.[15]

In December 2024, approximately 130 Zambian agricultural students arrived in Israel for an eleven-month program working with farmers in the Ramat Negev Regional Council.[16] The council's Agricultural Interns program operates under MASHAV and was designed to promote food security and share knowledge developed by Negev farmers.[16] The flight carrying the students also transported a medical delegation from Save a Child's Heart and medical equipment on its return journey to Zambia.[16]

One of the most sustained bilateral health programs is the partnership between Zambia and the Israeli nonprofit Save a Child's Heart. A cooperative and infrastructure-development program began in 2007 and was reported as a $3 million initiative.[17] In 2025, the American Jewish Committee reported that Save a Child's Heart had treated more than 200 children from Zambia over the preceding three decades.[14]

The program expanded from treating children abroad to building local capacity. Dr. Mudaniso Ziwa, Zambia's first pediatric cardiac surgeon, completed a six-year fellowship in Israel in 2024.[17] Zambian doctor Zakias Moonde Muulu was completing a further six-year fellowship at Wolfson Medical Center and was expected to return to Zambia as its second pediatric cardiac surgeon.[17] In 2026, an Israeli pediatric cardiac team spent a week at Lusaka's National Heart Hospital, assisting with ten pediatric open-heart surgeries and mentoring local staff.[17]

The partnership also supplied a $200,000 heart-lung machine, funded jointly by the American Jewish Committee, the Bergman Family Foundation, Save a Child's Heart, and the Zambian government.[14] A 2026 report said the machine was unveiled during the Israeli medical mission.[17] The equipment was expected to enable Zambian doctors to double the number of children treated for serious heart conditions.[14]

Israel also established a trauma and emergency unit at a hospital in Livingstone and hosted hundreds of Zambian agricultural students in the Negev alongside special courses in water management, food security, and agricultural innovation.[1] Ambassador Ofra Farhi stated that Israel remained committed to strengthening health collaboration with Zambia through training, technology, and partnership.[17]

A series of senior-level encounters between 2023 and 2025 marked a new depth in the bilateral relationship. On August 1, 2023, President Isaac Herzog hosted Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema in Jerusalem.[11] Hichilema identified agriculture, health, and water as priority areas for cooperation and noted that he had completed his undergraduate studies at a school in Zambia built by Israel.[18] Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Zambian Foreign Minister Stanley Kakubo signed cooperation agreements covering medicine, communications, agriculture, and culture.[19] Hichilema also met Prime Minister Netanyahu; their discussions covered agricultural cooperation, food security, Israeli investment in Zambia, and Zambian access to Israeli innovation.[11]

During the same visit, Hichilema announced that Israelis would no longer require entry visas for Zambia.[20] A $100 million investment in a Zambian renewable-energy power station by Gigawatt Global and Gigawatt Wind was finalized during the trip.[19] The planned facility in Chibombo, Zambia, was designed to generate 71 megawatts, combining solar and wind power in equal measure, and was to operate under a planned 25-year power purchase agreement with Zambia's national utility.[19] Gigawatt Global president Yosef Abramowitz described it as a major private Israeli investment in Zambia.[19]

Senior officials at Israel's Foreign Ministry highlighted the economic dimensions of the visit, noting that the ministry had held four recent economic forums linking Israeli businesses with African countries, including one involving Zambian representatives.[20] The ministry's deputy director-general for economic affairs described economic cooperation with Africa as a central pillar of diplomatic activity and said that collaborations developed through such forums could serve as a model for expanding Israeli business activity across the continent.[20]

On January 28, 2025, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar informed Zambian counterpart Mulambo Haimbe that Israel had decided to open a resident embassy in Zambia, describing it as part of a broader Israeli effort to deepen ties with African countries.[11] On August 20, 2025, Sa'ar inaugurated Israel's embassy in Lusaka alongside Haimbe.[1] Ambassador Ofra Farhi, who had previously served as a non-resident ambassador covering Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana, took up residence in Lusaka.[1] Sa'ar and Haimbe also signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral consultations and cooperation in health, agriculture, and other strategic areas.[1] Sa'ar called Zambia a strategic partner in southern Africa and said the embassy would deepen ties and expand cooperation in health, water, and food security.[11]

On November 10, 2025, Isaac Herzog visited Zambia — the first such visit by an Israeli president — and met Hichilema in Lusaka.[11][21] Herzog highlighted partnership in innovation, science, health, food security, and water management, as well as tourism, investment, and trade.[21] The visit followed the embassy opening and was presented as a further consolidation of the renewed relationship. Hichilema invited Israeli investment in Zambia's energy, agriculture, and technology sectors.[11]

Israeli companies have been active across multiple sectors of the Zambian economy since the restoration of diplomatic relations, with activity accelerating after Zambia opened its embassy in Tel Aviv in 2015. Sectors include security, agriculture, health, water projects, construction, and infrastructure.[3] The Israeli Foreign Ministry held economic forums specifically connecting Israeli businesses with Zambian counterparts, reflecting a strategic emphasis on economic diplomacy.[20]

Israel's MASHAV and private sector have worked in parallel: while MASHAV programs focused on capacity-building and knowledge transfer in agriculture and health, Israeli companies pursued commercial contracts in defense, construction, and utilities. By 2022, the aggregate value of deals between Zambia and Israeli companies had reached billions of shekels, though Zambia's financial difficulties had left a substantial portion of payments overdue.[3]

The 2023 Hichilema visit to Israel signaled a desire to deepen commercial ties further. Hichilema emphasized trade and investment and cited Israeli experience in agricultural technology, health, and water as areas of particular interest.[18] A proposed trilateral fintech summit in Lusaka, involving Israel, the United States, and African countries, was raised during a 2023 state dinner hosted by President Herzog by Hichilema and senior adviser Chipo Mwanawasa.[1] In December 2018, Zambia became the 39th country in the world with a pro-Israel parliamentary caucus; its chairman, MP Maxas B Ng'onga, said the caucus reflected Parliament's support for Israel and the importance Zambia placed on bilateral ties.[11]

The relationship links Israel's early development diplomacy in Africa with newer state, humanitarian, and commercial partnerships. The Copperbelt project demonstrated long-term technical engagement in agriculture and local services, while the 2025 embassy opening converted Israel's representation from a non-resident arrangement into a resident presence in Lusaka.[6][1]

Continuing health programs, agricultural training, water and food-security cooperation, and private investment show that the renewed relationship extends beyond ceremonial diplomacy.[1][14]

In 2019, former Zambian minister Chishimba Kambwili alleged that drugs and illicit money had been smuggled from Israel on the Zambian presidential aircraft during President Edgar Lungu's 2017 visit to Israel. Kambwili acknowledged that he had no proof for the claim.[12] Israel's ambassador rejected the allegations as false and malicious and described bilateral relations as good and stable.[12] The cited report therefore presented the allegation as unsubstantiated rather than as an established event.