The Unspoken Alliance: Israel’s Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa

The Unspoken Alliance by Sasha Polakow-Suransky traces the concealed history of Israel’s covert relationship with apartheid South Africa, revealing a complex web of diplomacy, ideology, and hard-nosed pragmatism. Polakow-Suransky constructs the narrative around the evolution of this clandestine partnership, examining how two embattled states—each on the margins of their continents and the Cold War—converged through shared security needs, economic interests, and a mutual sense of siege.

Prologue: When Interests Align

On April 9, 1976, South African Prime Minister B.J. Vorster visited Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, laying a wreath in memory of Hitler’s victims. Vorster, once a Nazi sympathizer and architect of apartheid, stood honored by the Israeli government. How did the Jewish state, forged in response to the horrors of genocide, extend diplomatic courtesies to a man so deeply implicated in institutional racism? The answer lies in a convergence of historical forces and a pragmatic reorientation in both countries’ foreign policies. Vorster’s reception in Israel signaled a decisive shift: Israel’s leaders had begun to view survival and strategic security as paramount, even when those aims conflicted with foundational ideals.

From Moral Stance to Realpolitik

In its early years, Israel earned support from left-wing activists, African states, and Western democracies as a beacon for justice and human rights. Its leaders, such as Golda Meir, condemned apartheid, voicing Israel’s “natural opposition to policies of apartheid, colonialism, and discrimination.” During the 1950s and early 1960s, Israel fostered alliances with newly independent African nations, offering development aid and technical assistance. This outreach fostered goodwill, expanded Israel’s diplomatic reach, and aligned with Zionism’s foundational narratives of liberation and redemption.

The Six-Day War in 1967 shifted global perceptions of Israel. The occupation of new territories, the establishment of settlements, and Israel’s growing military dominance altered its image among developing nations. African states, under economic and political pressure from Arab and Soviet allies, began to distance themselves, culminating in a wave of diplomatic withdrawals after the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Faced with mounting isolation, Israel’s leaders recalibrated priorities. Material necessity drove Israeli policymakers to seek allies wherever possible, including regimes with whom they shared little ideological kinship.

Forging the Strategic Bond

Israel’s defense industry required new markets after the economic strains of war and embargo. South Africa, shunned by Western democracies for its racial policies, sought advanced weaponry and technological expertise. The Israeli government, under the leadership of Yitzhak Rabin and Defense Minister Shimon Peres, prioritized trade and security over prior commitments to anti-racism. Formal diplomatic ties deepened as both countries engaged in arms deals, scientific exchanges, and intelligence cooperation. Documents and interviews reveal that this alliance drew its strength from mutual vulnerability and institutional collaboration, particularly among military and intelligence elites.

Nuclear Collaboration and Cold War Calculus

The partnership grew most consequential in the realm of nuclear technology and ballistic missile development. Israel, already recognized as a nuclear power by the late 1960s, sought raw materials and remote testing sites. South Africa, intent on joining the nuclear club, acquired expertise, equipment, and blueprints with Israeli assistance. American and Soviet intelligence monitored these developments, but the full scope of the alliance remained hidden behind layers of secrecy and bureaucratic compartmentalization.

The two countries circumvented international treaties such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). Israeli scientists and engineers worked with South African counterparts to improve delivery systems and reactor technologies. South Africa, in turn, provided Israel with uranium and logistical support, enabling both states to fortify their strategic deterrents. As the Cold War spilled into Southern Africa—with Cuban troops in Angola and proxy conflicts at the continent’s margins—Washington and Moscow grew increasingly alarmed by the nuclear ambitions of these isolated regimes.

Ideology and the Logic of Minority Survival

By the late 1970s, Menachem Begin’s Likud Party consolidated power in Israel, intensifying the ideological convergence with South Africa’s National Party. Both governments articulated a vision of embattled minority rule: Israel as a fortress state surrounded by hostile neighbors; South Africa as a white enclave besieged by a restive Black majority and global condemnation. Leaders such as Ariel Sharon and Rafael Eitan expressed admiration for Pretoria’s resolve, linking their struggles to preserve security and identity.

The logic of “minority survival” infused official rhetoric and justified extraordinary measures. Israeli officials often described their alliance with South Africa as a pragmatic necessity rather than a betrayal of values, yet many defense and political elites expressed genuine affinity for Pretoria’s worldview. Military-to-military relationships deepened, while diplomatic officials—often uneasy with the arrangement—found themselves marginalized from key decisions.

Domestic Tensions and the Politics of Secrecy

Within both states, the alliance generated fierce debate and internal dissent. South Africa’s Jewish community, a small minority shaped by the trauma of European antisemitism, weighed its loyalty to Israel against fears of antisemitic backlash from Pretoria’s rulers. Some Jewish leaders sought accommodation with the apartheid regime to safeguard their community, while others pushed for a more principled stance. In Israel, opposition politicians, diplomats, and segments of civil society challenged the growing military cooperation, warning of reputational costs and moral erosion.

The machinery of secrecy defined the alliance’s inner workings. Defense ministries, intelligence agencies, and private contractors operated behind walls—sometimes literally, as in the walled-off sections of embassies—shielding sensitive operations from public scrutiny and diplomatic channels. South African and Israeli officials negotiated contracts, exchanged personnel, and coordinated technological development with minimal parliamentary oversight.

Propaganda, Denial, and International Image

As details of the partnership surfaced through leaks and investigative journalism, both governments invested heavily in controlling the narrative. Israeli spokespeople issued routine denials of arms sales or joint nuclear projects, maintaining a rhetorical commitment to anti-apartheid principles. South African officials dismissed criticism as external interference, framing their collaboration as self-defense in a hostile world.

The propaganda campaigns extended to the United Nations and other international forums. Israel sought to distance itself from the more egregious aspects of South African policy, emphasizing humanitarian aid and technical assistance. South Africa courted conservative and pro-Israel groups in Western countries, cultivating sympathy for its fight against communism and “terrorism.” The two states refined their media strategies, using selective disclosure and strategic ambiguity to deflect scrutiny.

Economic Impact and the Arms Trade

Arms deals represented the economic core of the alliance. Israel supplied Pretoria with advanced missile systems, radar, and small arms, enabling the South African Defense Force to modernize and extend its regional dominance. Defense contracts and joint ventures sustained Israel’s military-industrial complex, providing vital revenue as Western markets closed. South Africa reciprocated with investment, rare materials, and scientific collaboration. These exchanges sustained both economies, particularly during periods of sanctions and diplomatic isolation.

Within the global context of Cold War proxy conflicts, Israeli and South African forces shared intelligence and tactics. The SADF relied on Israeli expertise for counterinsurgency, border security, and battlefield technology. Israel, facing embargoes and growing dependency on arms exports, seized the opportunity to test equipment and expand its influence in Africa. The economic partnership reinforced the alliance’s durability, even as public relations crises and shifting international alliances threatened to disrupt it.

Diplomatic Fallout and the Erosion of Legitimacy

International pressure against the apartheid regime mounted through the late 1970s and 1980s. The United Nations, Western governments, and the anti-apartheid movement demanded accountability, imposing sanctions, boycotts, and diplomatic isolation. Israel found itself targeted by new waves of criticism, accused of hypocrisy and complicity. The alliance’s exposure deepened divides within the global Jewish diaspora, alienating segments of the American civil rights movement and undermining Israel’s moral capital.

The collapse of the alliance followed the arc of South Africa’s transition to democracy. As apartheid unraveled under internal resistance and international embargo, Israel recalibrated its foreign policy, seeking rapprochement with new African governments and restoring its image abroad. South African records—less guarded by the post-apartheid ANC government—revealed the depth and detail of the partnership, exposing previously concealed agreements and correspondence.

Legacy and Contemporary Relevance

The Unspoken Alliance confronts the reader with the long-term consequences of expedient alliances and the tensions between national security and ethical consistency. The partnership between Israel and apartheid South Africa endures as a cautionary episode in both nations’ histories. The book draws a line from the era of realpolitik—where arms deals, covert diplomacy, and mutual survival dictated policy—to ongoing debates about legitimacy, occupation, and the boundaries of acceptable state conduct.

Polakow-Suransky’s research, grounded in over one hundred interviews and access to declassified archives, provides a detailed account of how secrecy, bureaucracy, and self-interest produced outcomes that shaped both regional dynamics and global perceptions. The alliance’s nuclear dimension foreshadowed later proliferation challenges, while its propaganda battles resonate in today’s polarized international discourse.

As Israel continues to grapple with the legacy of occupation, settlement expansion, and external criticism, The Unspoken Alliance invites reflection on the intersection of memory, identity, and strategy. The book raises fundamental questions: How do states negotiate the gap between founding ideals and existential threats? Where do necessity and principle converge—and where do they collide? Polakow-Suransky’s account reveals a history in which leaders, confronted by crisis and isolation, privileged survival and security over foundational myths, forging a partnership whose consequences remain visible in contemporary geopolitics.