Relationship dossier
Ethiopia
Israel
Relationship assessment
Longstanding diplomatic and practical cooperation, interrupted by a major rupture in 1973
Ethiopia toward Israel
+35Ethiopia restored diplomatic relations with Israel in 1989 and has engaged in bilateral cooperation, including through high-level visits and agreements covering areas such as agriculture, water and security.
Israel toward Ethiopia
+40Israel has provided Ethiopia with technical and development assistance and pursued bilateral cooperation in areas including agriculture, water and security. Israeli-led efforts also brought Ethiopian Jews to Israel through Operation Moses in the 1980s.
Overall relationship
+35The relationship combines sustained diplomatic engagement and practical cooperation with a history of severe political interruption: Ethiopia broke relations with Israel in 1973 and restored them in 1989. Subsequent development and technical cooperation and renewed high-level engagement support a broadly cooperative structure, though not one of uninterrupted closeness.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Ethiopia and Israel have maintained substantial diplomatic and practical ties since restoring relations in 1989, following Ethiopia’s 1973 break. Cooperation has included Israeli development and technical assistance and bilateral engagement on agriculture, water and security. The relationship has also included major periods of political distance, so its cooperative features do not amount to an uninterrupted close partnership.
Areas of tension
- Ethiopia’s 1973 break in relations with Israel amid the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Key developments
Ethiopia broke diplomatic relations with Israel amid the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Ethiopia and Israel restored diplomatic relations.
Operation Moses brought Ethiopian Jews to Israel through an Israeli-led evacuation effort.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Ethiopia, with bilateral cooperation discussed in areas including agriculture, water and security.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of bilateral security and development cooperation are unclear.
- The extent of recent cooperation across agriculture, water and technology is uncertain.