Israeli-Eritrean relations

Eritrean War of Independence

For almost the entire duration of the War of Independence, Israel provided support to Ethiopia. This was because Israel saw the Eritrean conflict as a continuation of the wider Arab-Israeli conflict. Most Arab states supported the separation of Eritrea from Ethiopia. They assumed that the Muslim population of the country (45%) would allow the Red Sea to remain "Arab waters." For this reason, Israel became an ally of the Ethiopian government to control the long Eritrean coast, which stretches 1,080 km. It began in the early 1960s, when Israel began helping the Ethiopian government in various campaigns against the Eritrea Liberation Front (FED). The Ethiopian government painted the Eritrean rebels as an Arab threat to the entire African region; This argument convinced the Israelis to side with the Ethiopians in this conflict. Israel trained counterinsurgency forces in order to cope with PEI. Israel believed that the Eritrean liberation struggle was supported by Arab countries and was afraid that pro-Arab independent Eritrea might block the passage of Israeli ships through the Red Sea. With the development of military operations, Israeli assistance to the Ethiopian government increased. By 1966, about 100 military advisers from Israel were working in Ethiopia. By 1967, troops trained by Israeli instructors took control of most of Eritrea. By the end of 1970, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Eritrea became the main rebel group in Eritrea after it smashed the FEF with the help of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray . After another decade of war, in May 1991, the Ethiopian government was overthrown by NFEA and NFOT.

Independence Period

The strategic partnership between the new Eritrean government and Israel was formalized when Eritrean President Isayas Afevorki came to Israel for medical treatment in 1993. ^[1] He was transported to Israel by American aircraft. The representative of the United States in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, proposed this idea when it became aware of the president’s illness. A series of these events, together with the assistance offered by the Americans, led to the opening of the Israeli embassy in Amsar on March 15, 1993, which was officially announced only on April 27, 1993. Some Arab states talk about military and intelligence ties, including the fact that Israel helped Eritrea during the Hanish conflict against Yemen (which Israel does not officially recognize), however, these rumors did not have clear evidence.

According to media reports, as of July 2018, 35,659 immigrants from Eritrea and Sudan lived in Israel , awaiting consideration of their applications for refugee status. ^[2] In October 2018, Israel, represented by representatives of the national security headquarters under the ministry of the head of government, first began direct negotiations with Amsera to begin the process of returning 20,000 Eritrean refugees from a Jewish state to their homeland. Israel wants assurances that the Eritreans who have returned home will not be prosecuted for desertion. In addition, Israel is also conducting joint consultations with Switzerland , which also plans to deport about 40,000 Eritreans in its territory. ^[3]