Israeli president begins first-ever visit to Zambia in bid to break diplomatic isolation

By Abdel Ra'ouf Arnaout and Rania Abu Shamala

JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL (AA) – Israeli President Isaac Herzog began a visit to Zambia on Monday, his first-ever trip to the southern African country.

“Africa is the future,” Herzog posted on US social media company X.

Israel “always believed in Africa and attaches great importance to expanding cooperation in the fields of trade, agriculture, innovation, science and technology across Africa,” he added.

On Sunday, Herzog’s office said that he would depart Monday on official visits to Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in a 24-hour tour.

In recent years, Tel Aviv has sought to strengthen ties with African nations that have historically supported the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation.

Alongside Herzog’s tour, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar is set to inaugurate Israel’s new embassy in Tallinn, the Estonian capital, on Tuesday.

Through such diplomatic moves, Israel is seeking to break its international diplomatic isolation, imposed as a result of its US-backed genocidal war on Gaza, where more than 69,000 people have been killed since October 2023.