Tshisekedi, Netanyahu Discuss Security and Israeli Investment in DR Congo

KINSHASA: Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem, seeking deeper cooperation in security, agriculture, energy and technology as Kinshasa confronts persistent conflict in the country’s east.

Tshisekedi met the two Israeli leaders on Tuesday during his second official visit to Israel as president, according to the Congolese presidency.

“Today, we are translating the strong friendship between our two countries into concrete cooperation,” Netanyahu said at the start of the talks, citing security, agriculture, infrastructure, health, trade and energy among the areas under discussion.

Netanyahu said Israel was ready to support Congo’s development and stability, describing the relationship between the two countries as one that both governments wanted to deepen.

The talks come as Congo seeks additional security partnerships while battling armed groups in its mineral-rich eastern provinces.

Kinshasa has also been looking for foreign investment and technical expertise to develop agriculture, infrastructure and strategic mineral value chains.

The Congolese presidency said Tshisekedi and Netanyahu held one-on-one talks before their delegations joined an expanded meeting covering defence, high technology and other areas.

Tshisekedi later met Herzog at the Israeli president’s residence, where the two leaders reviewed the expansion of bilateral ties following Herzog’s visit to Kinshasa in November 2025.

“Our discussions confirmed our shared determination to give a new dimension to cooperation between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the State of Israel,” Tshisekedi said.

He identified agriculture and food security, water, health, innovation, security, training and investment as priority areas.

“Our ambition is to build with Israel a modern, pragmatic and mutually beneficial partnership, measured not only by the agreements we sign, but by their implementation and the results they produce for our two peoples,” he added.

Herzog described Tshisekedi as a “dear friend” and said Israel would continue strengthening its relations with Congo and other African countries.

Before the meetings, Tshisekedi visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, where he laid a wreath and rekindled the memorial flame in honour of the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust.

The visit also included a review of memorandums of understanding signed on July 27 by Congolese Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner.

Kinshasa said it was assessing possible Israeli investment connected to the Lobito Corridor, a regional transport network intended to link mineral-producing areas in Congo and Zambia to Angola’s Atlantic coast.

Tshisekedi first visited Israel as president in 2021.

The latest meetings followed Herzog’s November 11, 2025 visit to Kinshasa, which focused on diplomatic, security, agricultural, infrastructure and digital cooperation.