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For more than three decades, from the mid 1950s to the late 1980s, Israel’s activity in Africa was central to the former’s strategic, security, and foreign polices. Israel was a young, poor, small, and inexperienced country in those years, but it was able to use its advantages to become a major player on the great African continent. Because of a convergence of both Israeli and African interests, the essence of these bilateral relations was covert and focused mainly on the security and intelligence spheres. Israel’s military and intelligence activity in Africa is a remarkable story of a small country’s ability to build on its advantages and reap the benefits. A thorough examination of this important subject has never been conducted before. This research intends to fill the gap. Israel’s African initiative placed it on the front lines of the cold war struggle over the destiny of the continent. At certain times and in particular regions, Israel was almost as involved as either of the superpowers – and sometimes even more so – and it played a decisive role in influencing domestic developments in some countries and in bilateral African relations. Also, Africa’s indisputable value as an intelligence arena gave birth to a manifold of intelligence work carried out there by Mossad. The dissertation makes use of massive documentation, which has never before been published, including inner correspondence of Israeli Intelligence, Military and Diplomatic corps, and many interviews with key officials. The research leads to the conclusion that the intricate history of Israeli involvement in Africa reflects the transformations within Israel’s diplomatic, defence and intelligence decision-making processes. This is true not only in the confinements of the African arena, but also in a broader, world-wide perspective. In other words, the processes of historical transformations within Israel are reflected in the micro-level of Israel’s presence in Africa.