ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the factors that led to both a change in Israel's attitude toward Africa and a favorable African response, and examines the growth of Afro-Israeli relations in the first decade of Africa's independence. The contacts that had been made by Israelis with African leaders through the socialist and labor movements provided an opportunity for, and a base from which to launch, the new Israeli policy in Africa. Israel was usually among the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the newly independent African states. Israel was involved in a fairly extensive military assistance program to African states. Israel believed that an effective way of winning the friendship of the new African states was by identifying with their social and economic development through the offer of technical assistance. The Africans successfully resisted pressure which Arab states mounted either bilaterally or through multilateral organizations such as the Organization of African Unity, the United Nations, and the non-aligned movement.
