The history of the Jews of Ghana, previously known as the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

, dates back several centuries. The contemporary Jewish community is small and mostly composed of foreign residents. The House of Israel, a community of aspiring converts, has begun to emerge in recent decades.

Modern history

In 2015 the

Chabad Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...

Lubavitch movement set up a

Chabad house A Chabad house is a centre for disseminating traditional Judaism by the Chabad movement. Chabad houses are run by a Chabad Shaliach (emissary), and Shalucha (fem. for emissary) and their family. They are located in cities and on or near college ...

and synagogue in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

Ghana that caters to tourists and visiting business people, mostly from Israel.

Ghana–Israel relations

Ghana–Israel relations refers to the current and historical relationship between

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Ghana has an embassy in

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and many ...

, Israel, and Israel has an embassy in

. An Israeli consulate was established in Ghana in 1956, prior to independence.Historical Dictionary of Ghana - David Owusu-Ansah - Google Books
/ref> Ghana was the first country from

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. In April 1959, Israel, with help from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, supervised the establishment of the

Ghana Air Force The Ghana Air Force (GHF) is the aerial warfare organizational military branch of the Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF). The GHF, along with the Ghanaian army (GA) and Ghanaian navy (GN), make up the Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF), which are controlled ...

. A small Israeli team also trained aircraft maintenance personnel and radio technicians at the

-based Air Force Trade Training School. After prime minister

Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An in ...

's overthrow, Israeli military activities in Ghana ended, but Israel continued to aid Ghana in shipping, construction, security, research, manpower training, and agriculture. From shortly after the 1973

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...

through September 2011, Israel and Ghana maintained basic diplomatic ties through Nigeria. In September 2011, Ghana and Israel renewed direct diplomatic relations.

House of Israel

The House of Israel is a Jewish community in Ghana that claims to have roots in the

Ten Lost Tribes The ten lost tribes were the ten of the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel after its conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire BCE. These are the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Ashe ...

of ancient Israel.Parfitt, Tudor (2002) The Lost Tribes of Israel: the History of a Myth. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson pp.182-3;Parfitt, Tudor Black Jews in Africa and the Americas, Harvard University Press ( 2013) pp.118-119

References

External links

Sephardic Jews in Ghana and West Africa
Sephardic Genealogy {{Africa in topic, History of the Jews in