In a massive escalation of tensions, Iran attacked Israel last year with over 200 ballistic missiles, raising the stakes in two direct attacks for the first time in history after months of letting its proxies in the region fight the Jewish state. The battle by the so-called the Axis of Resistance – Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and various armed groups in Iraq and Syria.  

While Israel is busy with terror in the West Bank, engaged in a deadly war in Gaza, and dealing with near-daily rocket attacks from Yemen, Iran is not only working to secure a nuclear deal with the US, but also strategically expanding its influence in Africa – specifically the Horn of Africa.

On the third installment of i24NEWS’ exclusive series on Israel-Africa relations, analysts explain how urgent it is for Israel to tackle Tehran’s growing influence in the continent.

“It’s understandable that Israel is focusing on the closest, most immediate dangers,” Danny Citrinowicz, Senior Researcher on the Iran Axis Program at the Institute for National Security Studies, told i24NEWS. “But we are already seeing the results of Iran’s entrenchment into the African continent.”

Iran seeks to “have a base that will allow them to send weapons to hamas or to threaten Israel from the western side not only from the eastern side.”

“Israel’s southern frontier, the Red Sea, was very important during the war,” said Dr. Asher Lubotzky, Senior Research Fellow at the Israel-Africa Institute, who also spoke to i24NEWS. “Houthis in Yemen are challenging Israel to an extent that Israel has never experienced before. Fighting them, we see the international coalition led by the US could not be too effective here. Israel may need to find new ways to fight the Houthis. And across the Red sea there is Africa – Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan etc. And this region is extremely strategic for Israel.”

Shiri Fein-Grossman, CEO of the Israel-Africa Institute, said that Israel has let the Houthi issue “fester, it was too far away. We didn’t deal with it; there were other more important pressing issues. But we have to think more like a regional power, or maybe a global power like some of our neighbors.”