Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, who is currently on a state visit to Israel, met on Tuesday with President Isaac Herzog, and is also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hichilema is the third Zambian president to visit Israel over the past decade.
In February 2017, Netanyahu met Hichilema’s predecessor Edgar Lungu during the latter’s visit to Israel, saying that the deepening of cooperation between Israel and Zambia is important for their countries and their peoples.
Before that, in 2014, then-president Michael Sata came on a working vacation to Israel purportedly with the aim of attracting Israeli investment in Zambia, though rumor had it that he was in Israel for medical treatment for an undisclosed ailment.
Israel's ties with Zambia
Israeli companies are active in Zambia in agriculture, water management, information technology, health, communications, defense, and more. Hichilema is eager to strengthen relations in all these fields, and to build connections between the people of both Zambia and Israel.
A practicing Seventh Day Adventist, Hichilema, together with his wife Mutinta and members of his delegation, prayed at the Western Wall on Monday.
Also on Monday, Zambia’s Foreign Minister Stanley Kakulos, one of three ministers in the delegation, met with Foreign Minister Eli Cohen to discuss Israel’s relations with Africa in general and Zambia in particular.
Herzog said that relations between their two countries were “outstanding,” and have been for years. He also agreed with Hichilema that relations between their two countries must be advanced. Hichilema was particularly interested in exploring food technology, “because our neighbors need food.” There is a lot of famine and hunger on the African continent. He also voiced his appreciation for what Israeli physicians have done to save the lives of Zambian children with heart defects.
Herzog mentioned that when he was in Washington last month, Zambia had come up for discussion during his meeting with US President Joe Biden, and that Biden had said how much he appreciates what Zambia is doing to become increasingly democratic.
Zambia has also been active in trying to reduce tensions between neighboring states. When Herzog asked about this, he was told that Zambia’s policy is peace, security, and stability. When there is conflict, said Hichilema, there is no stability.
Turning the conversation to South Africa, Herzog asked for Zambia’s help in improving relations between Israel and South Africa, which have soured considerably in recent years.
Zambia has one of the smallest Jewish communities in the world – less than 50 people. However, the community – descended mostly from immigrants from Lithuania and Latvia during the late 19th century, as well as refugees who fled the Nazis – left a lasting legacy.
The earliest settlers were active in copper mining and raising cattle, and contributed in many ways to the development of Zambia. At its peak in the mid 1950s, the Jewish population of Zambia was in the range of 1,200 people. Jews were politically active in helping Zambia to gain independence from Britain, but afterwards, as the white population began to drift out of the country, the Jews followed and the numbers dwindled drastically.
Hichilema has made it his personal mission to preserve the history of Zambia’s Jewish community, and wherever he goes in the world, he seeks out Jewish communities to tell them about the Jews of Zambia.