Arab-African Relations and the Israeli Factor

Despite the progress of Arab-African relations and their steadfastness in the face of many challenges, they have recently witnessed fluctuations and oscillations between progress and delay. Such phenomena arose even though more than half of the Arab countries have been in Africa. Despite the depth of the Palestinian relations with the countries of the African continent historically, these relations have witnessed a noticeable decline in recent years, and the Palestinian issue is no longer a central issue that receives consensus from African countries as it was in the sixties and seventies of the last century. Additionally, the countries of the African continent began to accept Israel as part of the international system without referring to its violations against the Palestinian people, and its violation of international legitimacy and United Nations resolutions, unlike in the past. On the other hand, African-Israeli relations witnessed a remarkable development that included all economic, political, and military aspects, in addition to an increase in the volume of trade exchange between the two sides. This study seeks to investigate the facts about this significant relationship by studying its historical roots, standing at the essential positions that this relationship has endured, and the reasons for its fluctuation and delay. Moreover, it studies the development of the African-Israeli relations. Finally, the analysis provides an overview of the impacts of such emerging influence on the decline of Arab-African relations in the recent period. The study concludes that there are internal and external obstacles that have led to and lead to fluctuation in the Arab-African relations, including the involvement of some Arab countries in some internal problems in some African countries and the absence of cooperation in vital fields such as the educational, cultural, security and media fields. The study also indicates the European-US role and its efforts to restore the intensive Israeli presence in Africa, which is considered one of the important causes and weaknesses in developing Arab-African relations. The study also confirms that despite the decline in Arab-African relations, these relations can develop and advance to a better reality according to a clear, strategic vision. The study presents a set of recommendations that may help tighten the return of the Arab-African relations and immunize them from penetrations and regression. These recommendations include ensuring the importance of providing minimum opportunities for Arab and African reconciliation with popular support, paying attention to the institutional framework of cultural relations of vital importance, and working on avoiding the problems that The West describes as an obstacle to the development of Arab-African relations. Keywords: Arab-African relations, history, cultural exchange, economic cooperation, Islam in Africa, African Union, African-Israeli relations, Arab-Israeli conflict.