Can The Israel-Rwanda Friendship Survive The Recent Israeli Strike in Qatar?

Paul Kagame was received by Benjamin Netanyahu during his 2017 visit to Israel. (Photo by Paul Kagame on Flickr)

For the past three decades, Rwanda and Israel have enjoyed strong bilateral relations. However, the recent Rwanda's strong condemnation of Israel's strike on Hamas Leadership in Doha, Qatar, might lead to a strain in Israel-Rwanda relations.

The diplomatic relations between Rwanda and Israel started in 1962, after Rwanda gained its independence from Belgium. However, the bilateral relations were stagnant from 1973 due to Israel's Yom Kippur War, which pushed the Jewish state to focus on its national reconstruction.

From the early 1990s, Israel was selling weapons to Habyarimana's Rwandan government, which was conducting pogroms against its Tutsi ethnic population. At the time, the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), led by Major General Paul Kagame, was fighting Habyarimana's regime in the country's Northern part. In other words, Israel was one of the countries that were arming Habyarimana's regime against the RPF. However, once the RPF defeated the genocidal government and put an end to the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, the new Rwandan government chose to turn a blind eye to Israel's relations with the genocidal regime and rather seek a new type of partnership with the Jewish state.

Post-1994 Rwanda: Building a new chapter with Israel

Inheriting a traumatized and impoverished nation, the RPF-led government sought to build a new Rwanda that is inclusive and safe for all, and to achieve this, the country needed partners across the world. With Rwanda being a post-genocide society, and Israel being a country funded by holocaust survivors, a new partnership between the nations was imminent. With both Rwanda and Israel holding good diplomatic relations with the United States under the Clinton and Bush administrations, a new chapter between the two nations was achievable.

In 2008, President Kagame visited Israel and participated in the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel, where he spoke at the “Presidents Discussing Tomorrow” panel with other invited heads of state on issues of globalization and interdependence. President Kagame also visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem, and laid a wreath at The Hall of Remembrance. This visit cemented the strong ties between Israel and Rwanda, and during the same year, the two countries signed a joint declaration on trade and investment promotion.

Rwanda opened its embassy in Israel in 2015, and Israel followed suit by inaugurating its embassy in Kigali in 2019.

Israel found in Rwanda a partner that could help push its interests in Africa and the world. In 2014, while on a rotational membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Rwanda chose to abstain from the UNSC draft resolution that was calling for "Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 and, within one year, for the parties to reach a negotiated solution to the conflict." The draft resolution failed to pass because it needed nine votes, but couldn't secure more than eight. Rwanda's abstention did not go unnoticed as PM Netanyahu later personally thanked President Kagame.

PM Netanyahu would later visit Rwanda in 2016 as part of his East Africa tour, where he also visited Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda. During his trip, Netanyahu visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial, and later, alongside his host, President Kagame, oversaw the signing of several bilateral agreements on defense, trade, and agriculture, among others.

The bilateral relations between Israel and Rwanda reached their peak in 2017.

In March 2017, President Kagame was the first African leader to address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy conference, where he praised the bond between Israel and Rwanda and stated that "Rwanda is, without question, A friend of Rwanda. The AIPAC is a powerful Jewish lobby that promotes Israel's interests in the US. Rwanda's Kagame would later be awarded the Dr Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Prize for Outstanding Friendship with the Jewish People by the World Values Network in May 2017. As the famous Jewish American Rabbi Boteach Shmuley wrote in his 2017 article in The Hill, "President Kagame has solidified his stalwart support of the Jewish State and his friendship with the Jewish people". Later in July 2017, President Kagame visited Israel and was received by PM Netanyahu alongside the Israeli president Reuven Rivlin. Netanyahu thanked President Kagame for standing up for Israel in international forums. President Kagame later welcomed the Israeli private sector to invest in Rwanda.

The good bilateral relations between Rwanda and Israel made way for Israeli companies to establish in Rwanda, especially in three sectors, namely, agriculture, defense, and tech.

In 2016, Israel established an agriculture center of excellence in Rwanda to train Rwandan agriculture professionals and academicians and equip them with the latest available knowledge. Many Rwandan students and professionals in agricultural studies have benefited from skills development programmes in Israel through MASHAV, Israel's International Cooperation Agency.  Later, Israeli companies like the NETAFIM established in Rwanda with an investment of about 80 million USD.

Rwanda is one of the few non-Western countries to host some of Israel's top defense technology companies. This simply shows how close the two countries have become over the past years.

RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems, the maker of the famous Iron Dome systems, opened its first-ever Africa branch in 2023 in Kigali, Rwanda, and it has been reported that the Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF) uses some of its advanced air defence systems. The Israel Weapons Industries (IWI), a world-class firearms manufacturer, has also partnered with the Rwanda Engineering and Manufacturing Corporation (REMCO) in making some of the advanced weapons in Rwanda. Some of the weapons made through the IWI-REMCO partnership were showcased at the International Security Conference on Africa (ISCA) held in May 2025.

In 2020, Israel chose to side with Rwanda, unlike most Western countries, in backing the UN resolution A/RES/74/273 calling for the renaming of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda as The 1994 Genocide against Tutsi. This uncommon move by Israel in the global arena showed that relations between Israel and Rwanda were stronger than ever.

Rwanda was even ready to help Israel solve the illegal immigration crisis by hosting thousands of illegal African immigrants on its soil. Although the project did not materialize due to its unpopularity in Israel and abroad, the fact that Rwanda had agreed to engage in such a risky deal showed an emboldened commitment to its friendship with Israel.

Rwanda's diplomatic reaction to Israel's Strike in Doha

The recent Israeli strike in Doha, Qatar, took the world by surprise. Most countries in the world condemned Israel's decision to target Hamas leadership on Qatari soil, and Rwanda did the same through a communiqué where it condemned the strike as a violation of international law. President Kagame later visited Doha and offered his personal condolences to the Emir of Qatar. During a UN Human Rights Council in Geneva,  Rwanda also called for Israel to be held accountable for its strikes in Doha, an unprecedented move by Rwanda against Israel.

It is common knowledge that diplomatic relations are led by interests, and in Rwanda's case, Qatar might have outgunned Israel.

In the past ten years, Qatar has moved to become one of Rwanda's closest allies in the Middle East. From securing 49% of shares in Rwandair, Rwanda's national aircraft carrier, to acquiring a 60% stake in the USD 1.3 billion Rwanda International Airport project, Qatar has cemented its presence in Rwanda.

Qatar has also agreements with Rwanda in defense, finance, and technology, among others.

The Qatari Forces have on several occasions offered training to the Rwanda Defense Forces and the Rwanda National Police on counter-terrorism, VIP protection, and aviation.

President Kagame's special relationship with Qatar's Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani has been emboldened by both leaders' visits to each other's countries, with the Emir being Rwanda's Special Guest during the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of States and Government Meeting (CHOGM).

The decision for Rwanda to side with Qatar is pure realpolitik in action, as Rwanda sees its relationship with Qatar as critical to its economic development, and it is ready to back its friend at the cost of jeopardizing the Israeli-Rwanda relations. In a move to appease the situation, Ambassador Nduhungirehe, Rwanda's Minister of Foreign Affairs, assured the leaders of Political parties in Rwanda that Israel-Rwanda relations remain robust despite Rwanda's condemnation of the September 9 Israeli strike on Doha.

What remains to be seen is whether Israel will choose to turn a blind eye to Rwanda’s full support of Qatar, or if it will review its special relations with Rwanda by taking consequent decisions, such as limiting Rwanda's access to Israel's advanced technology in defense, or even agriculture.

Israel could also opt to enhance its partnership with Rwanda's regional adversaries, like Tshisekedi's Democratic Republic of Congo. Such a move would undoubtedly result in another reaction from Rwanda, leading to the downgrade of Israel-Rwanda relations.

To preserve the special friendship, Israel and Rwanda should use diplomatic channels to address any issue that might occur and avoid any downturn in the bilateral relations that would ultimately undermine the bond that has been built between the peoples of Israel and Rwanda over the last decades.