Among the many diplomatic risks for the United States amid Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, the further alienation of the global South — including Africa — is high on the list.
It is difficult to generalize about African public opinion, especially given the absence of continent-wide polls on the current violence. However, after African governments initially mixed reactions in the round of conflict that began with the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, there are now many indications that most African governments, key African political factions and a significant portion of the African public are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and disgusted with the current Israeli military campaign in Gaza.
Many African governments have historically supported an independent Palestine. In recent decades, however, Israel has increased its diplomatic presence on the continent, although not always in a linear fashion. Mauritania, for example, recognized Israel in 1999 before suspending relations in 2009. Amid the current crisis, however, African governments have almost all opposed Israel’s bombing and invasion of Gaza.
For example, on October 23, a Jordanian resolution called for an “immediate, permanent and lasting humanitarian ceasefire leading to a cessation of hostilities.” passed in the United Nations General Assembly with 120 votes in favor, 14 against and 44 abstentions. Thirty-five African states (counting North African states) voted in favor of the resolution, including Morocco and Sudan, which have signed the Abraham Accords that normalized their relations with Israel in late 2020. No African states voted against the resolution, although some did not vote for it, while a handful of others, such as Cameroon and Ethiopia, abstained. Supporting such resolutions was directly contrary to American wishes.
Diplomatically, the African Union continues to support a two-state solution and, on 15 October, joined the Arab League in a statement calling for peace and decrying “collective punishment” — a reference to the high civilian toll resulting from Israel’s heavy bombing campaign.
Meanwhile, at least two African countries have recalled their diplomats from Israel: South Africa and Chad. South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC), even before coming to power in 1994, was a long-time supporter of the Palestinian cause and, in particular, Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization, which the ANC’s Nelson Mandela called an “extraordinary freedom fighter”. On November 6, Pretoria call its ambassador returned from Israel, citing civilian deaths in Gaza and what Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor called “collective punishment” of Gazans by Israel and what his government has also framed as “genocide”.
Two days earlier, Chad had reminded its envoy from Tel Aviv, calling for a “ceasefire leading to a sustainable solution to the Palestinian issue.” Chad’s move was particularly significant because it only recently upgraded its diplomatic relations with Israel and opened an embassy just this past February.
Some African countries that initially appeared strongly supportive of Israel in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attack have since taken more nuanced positions as the death toll from Israel’s response has mounted: Kenya, for example, initially issued a strong statement “ solidarity’ with Israel, but has since supported calls for de-escalation.
Despite their UNGA votes, African governments have been somewhat more cautious when it comes to allowing mass pro-Palestinian demonstrations on their own soil. The caution reflects at least two factors: such protests could be used by the domestic political opposition, and some governments hope to quietly maintain ties to Israel.
In North Africa, pro-Palestinian protests have been more intense than in sub-Saharan Africa, with even Morocco—a signatory to the Abraham Accords and an increasingly important partner for Israel—allowing massive protests. In sub-Saharan Africa, on the other hand, even the governments of some Muslim-majority countries were reluctant to allow demonstrations to take place: on October 28, for example, Senegal refused permission for the National Alliance for the Palestinian Cause in Senegal to hold a rally, although a protest eventually went ahead in Dakar. South Africa, meanwhile, has unsurprisingly seen some of the biggest protests south of the Sahara, given the historical solidarities mentioned above, as well as the presence of the Economic Freedom Fighters, an outspoken party to the left of the ANC. Another major theater of protest is Nigeria, between the two Sunnis and Shiites Muslims.
The expressions of condemnation of Israeli policy in various parts of the African continent come amid a largely failed push by the United States to provoke African governments to take sides in the Ukraine war. Before and after the US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington in December 2022, Biden administration officials even found longtime allies such as Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, unwilling to come to a complete rupture with Russia.
Given the massive economic, diplomatic and military support Washington currently provides to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces, the alignment of African governments against Russia – or other global conflicts – may become even more hard sell.
In the Global South, the idea of a “rules-based international order” rings increasingly hollow for many governments and their publics as Western governments (with a few exceptions, such as Ireland) offer virtually unqualified support for Israel’s military offensive. These actions clearly violate international laws against collective punishment, targeting civilians, targeting journalists and cutting off food, water and electricity, according to major Western-based international human rights organizations such as international Amnesty and major media freedom groups such as Reporters Without Borders.
In The Continent, an influential South African magazine, a prominent commentator accuses the US (and Germany, among others) of deep hypocrisy when it comes to Palestine — for example, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier public apology in Tanzania earlier this month, genocidal colonial repression landed uncomfortably for some Africans. A Kenyan writer mourns that the United Nations is toothless, the US government appears “evil” over Palestinian deaths, and “the Western media … seems to have become a mouthpiece for US and Israeli propaganda.”
Meanwhile, amid the Ukraine war and the Gaza crisis, some Africans believe that the continent’s own conflicts and tragedies (in Sudan, Ethiopia and beyond) have been ignored, a dynamic they have warned against and veteran observers. Washington may thus find it increasingly difficult to convince Africans that the United States represents a certain set of universal values.
In Africa, the situation in Palestine evokes numerous solidarities: ethnic, religious, political and more. These solidarities are growing amid the current conflict, undoing some of Israel’s diplomatic gains and posing long-term challenges to Washington’s own diplomatic influence.
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