Israel renews ties with largely Muslim nation Guinea

The Director General of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Dore Gold, in Paris to sign an official agreement, said he hoped other African countries would follow suit and open relations with Israel.

Later, wars between Israel and its neighbors in 1967 and 1973 led North African nations to urge sub-Saharan African states to cut ties with Israel, which many did.

Guinea and Israel have announced the renewing of their diplomatic relations after nearly five decades of severed ties.

“During my visit to Africa I said that an African country would soon declare the resumption of relations – this happened today with Guinea”, a tweet from the office of the Prime Minister read.

After Wednesday’s announcement that Israel and Guinea were restoring ties, Netanyahu said he expected another African country to formally renew relations “in the coming days”.

Israel’s ambassador to Gambia Paul Hirschson inspects an honor guard in Gambia’s capital Banjul, January 12, 2016.

Addressing the Ethiopian parliament later that day, the prime minister said he was “proud to announce that Israel is coming back to Africa in a big way…”

Israel’s foreign ministry lists several Muslim or largely Muslim countries that have no current ties with it. Many are in northern and West Africa.

“Chad is a central country on the African continent”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embarked on a historic visit to Africa at the beginning of the month, in an apparent bid to find new trade partners and political allies. He also said the leaders of his host countries vowed publicly to push for Israel to regain observer status at the African Union.

Israel announced on Wednesday that it is resuming diplomatic relations with the Republic of Guinea after almost half a century of estrangement, according to a statement by the Israeli Foreign Ministry. “That is to say, there is a certain process here that is advancing toward the enhancement and normalization of our ties with African countries”.