The influence of National interests on Bilateral Relations between states: the Case of Kenya and Israel (2007-2017)

Abstract

Kenya-Israel bilateral relations were formally established in 1963 when Kenya gained her independence. At the time, Israel was facing hostilities from its Arab neighbours such as Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, arising from Israeli occupation of Palestine. These hostilities resulted in a number of Middle East Wars including the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Following the War, African states including Kenya in solidarity with Egypt, severed bilateral relations with Israel beginning a prolonged period of diplomatic disengagement. Official Kenya-Israel bilateral relations were restored fifteen years later in 1988 although the re-established Kenya-Israel bilateral relations remained largely passive with little enhancement as Israel’s interest in Africa had since declined. However, in mid-2000’s, Kenya-Israel bilateral relations began to flourish with notable enhancement between 2007 and 2017, as demonstrated by bilateral agreements and cooperation in security, economic and political agendas driven by national interests. Moreover, in 2016, Israel adopted a “Return to Africa Policy” aimed at strengthening bilateral relations with African states. In executing this Policy, Israel embraced Kenya as its preferred partner in Africa as Israel seeks to increase its footprint and pursue its national interests in the Continent. This further enhanced the bilateral relations between the two states and the study assessed the influence of Kenya’s and Israel’s security, economic and political interests on the enhanced relations between 2007 and 2017, guided by two objectives. The first was to assess the extent to which Kenya-Israel bilateral relations were motivated by Kenya’s security, economic and political interests. The second objective was to assess the extent to which Israel-Kenya bilateral relations were motivated by Israel’s security, economic and political interests. The study was further guided by two research questions – to what extent are Kenya-Israel bilateral relations motivated by Kenya’s security, economic and political interests and to what extent are Israel-Kenya bilateral relations motivated by Israel’s security, economic and political interests. As existing literature tends to generalize Israel’s interests in Africa, the study sought to fill this gap by assessing Israel’s interests in a specific country – Kenya. The researcher adopted a qualitative methodology, a descriptive longitudinal research design and made use of the case study method. Data was collected using expert and structured interviews as well as focus group discussion. Findings from the study established that Kenya’s and Israel’s national interests influenced the enhanced bilateral relations between 2007 and 2017 to a very large extent. Moreover, the study found that Kenya’s national security interests and Israel’s political interests comprised the priority interests that each respective state pursued in enhancing the bilateral relations. The study recommended that the two states maintain the enhanced bilateral relations in pursuit of their respective national interests. Specifically, the study recommended to the Government of Kenya, that it considers the appointment of qualified diplomats as Kenya’s representatives abroad, the admissibility of intelligence in court and the refining of its oil resources for export to Israel. Moreover, the study recommended to the Government of Israel that it sustains the high level political consultations with Kenya, the re-introduction of El Al Airlines as a direct flight between Kenya and Israel and the establishment of an overseas base in Kenya as Kenya is strategic to Israel’s security and geopolitical interests.