ISRAEL EYES SENEGAL ELECTIONS?

Days before Senegal’s much-anticipated presidential election took place, this journalist, @MilliePinch, said an Israeli military brokerage firm was closely watching because of long-standing business relations.

According to Mondafrique, Israel-based A.D. Consultants CEO Gaby Peretz developed a close relationship with President Macky Sall before winning office. A.D. Consultants allegedly provided a 100 million euro (or $109 million) package of military equipment.

According to a US government document via WikiLeaks, Peretz was born in Morocco. His parents moved with him to occupied Palestine at the age of five. In 1987, he retired as an Israeli Air Force battalion commander after a 19-year military career and established A.D. Consultants to represent foreign defence companies in Israel. However, after a meeting with Togo’s leaders, he began to realise the potential of business opportunities in Africa.

According to the Wikileaks dump, Peretz once served as the Honorary Consul of Burundi in Israel. US officials were alerted A.D. Consultants did business in Togo, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Niger, Chad, Nigeria, Mauritania, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The WikiLeaks document showed that the company claims its activities are approximately 55 per cent defence-related, while 45 per cent is geared toward civilians, though it is unclear what that means.

How do you think the yet-to-be-finalised defeat of Sall’s preferred candidate in Sunday’s election will affect Israel’s dealings in Senegal? Let us know in the comments.