Algeria–Israel relations

Algeria and Israel have no official diplomatic relations, with Algeria being part of the Arab League boycott of Israel, and officially does not recognise the State of Israel.

Algeria–Israel relations
Map indicating locations of Algeria and Israel

Algeria
Israel

History

During the Algerian war, Israel voted consistently against Algeria's independence in the United Nations.[1][2] Shortly after Algeria gained its independence in 1962, Israel recognized the country's independence.[3]

In 1962, Algeria gained its independence from France and became one of the first countries to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Since then, Algeria has supported various Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).[4]

During the Six-Day War in 1967, Algeria sent a battalion of infantry and a squadron of MiG-21s to Egypt, losing three Mig-21s to Israel.[5] During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Algeria sent an expeditionary force to fight Israel, including 59 aircraft (Mig-21, Mig-17, Su-7), an infantry platoon and an armored brigade (with an estimated 19 artillery weapons). Algeria also had a very important rule in the Arab-Israeli war in 1973, by sending its 8th Infantry Mechanical Regiment to the Egyptian front to fight. There were almost 2,100 men, 815 non-commissioned officers, and 192 officers in total. [6]

In the mid-1990s, while Israel and other North African states slowly started diplomatic relations, Algeria remained one of the last countries to refrain from such a move. It was only when Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak met President of Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika at the funeral of the Moroccan King Hassan II of Morocco on July 25, 1999, that alleged unofficial comments were made.[7]

In January 2012, both Algeria and Israel as part of the Mediterranean Dialogue attended the 166th Military Committee meetings with NATO members in Brussels.[8]

Modern days

Algeria refuses entry to any person holding an Israeli passport or any other passport which has a visa from Israel.[9]

In 2016, an Algerian high school geography textbook that contained a map that included Israel was withdrawn.[10] In January 2017, an Algerian was arrested after an online video interview with an Israeli official.[11]

In 2020, amidst Gulf states' call to normalise relations, and the Hirak political renewal impact on the country's internal affairs, some voices were calling on reviewing the country's bilateral relations in a way that benefits the country, although Israel never figured in that list.[12]

There have been some signs of a possible thaw in relations between Algeria and Israel. In 2018, reports emerged that Algeria was considering opening up its airspace to Israeli planes, although the Algerian government denied the reports. In 2020, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said that he was interested in improving relations with Algeria and other Arab countries, but there has been no concrete progress since then.[13]

See also

References
  1. Dorothy Pickles (2023). The Government and Politics of France: Volume Two Politics. Taylor & Francis. p. 223. ISBN 978-10-0081001-1.
  2. Rouleau, Eric. “French Policy in the Middle East.” The World Today, vol. 24, no. 5, 1968, pp. 209–18. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40394127. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.
  3. "Israelis Pursue Algerian Accord". The New York Times. July 9, 1962. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  4. Algeria – Arab and Middle East Affairs
  5. "Chronological Listing of Algeria". Archived from the original on 2012-09-18. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  6. Vivian Ibrahim (December 1, 2009). "Algeria and Egypt: A tale of two peoples". Egypt Independent.
  7. Algeria's Policy toward Israel: Pragmatism and Rhetoric by Jacob Abadi, Middle East Journal, Vol. 56, No. 4 (Autumn, 2002), pp. 616-641
  8. "NATO and Partner Chiefs of Defence conclude two days of meetings at NATO". NATO. 19 January 2012.
  9. Travel Information Manual, International Air Transport Association (IATA).
  10. "Report: Algeria Pulls Textbook That Features Israel on World Map". Haaretz. 17 September 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  11. "Algeria court ditches sentence for blogger who interviewed Israeli". The Times of Israel. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  12. Hazem, Hada. "We're not a monarchy". alfadjr. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  13. Mahiou, A. (2019). Algeria in the Mediterranean. In The Politics of Algeria (pp. 167-180). Routledge.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.