American, Israeli and African officials gathered with little fanfare but big plans on Wednesday, coming together in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city, for a trilateral summit on issues including technology, innovation and national security.

The Kigali Security Summit was the first of its kind, one participant told Jewish Insider, a historic strategic dialogue and “opportunity for government and nongovernment officials to talk about key issues that frame this trilateral relationship.”

Hosted by the International Security Conference on Africa, a Rwanda-based think tank, participants included officials from 10 African countries — including Kenya, Ethiopia, Morocco and Togo — as well as Israeli Ambassador to Rwanda Einat Weiss, local Christian faith leaders and representatives of Washington-based think tanks including the Atlantic Council, Hudson Institute, AIPAC and American Foreign Policy Council. 

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) provided prerecorded remarks, as did former National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien. 

“This conference represents something powerful: a strategic alignment rooted in shared security interests, innovation and moral clarity in a complex and evolving world,” Cruz said in his remarks, calling Africa “vital to our national interests” as it’s at the forefront of U.S. competition with China. Part of the U.S. strategy on the continent, he added, “should include our Israeli allies, which are central to Africa’s integration and success.”

Cruz said the U.S.-Israel-Africa trilateral relationship “offers a powerful framework for development. For the United States, it strengthens trusted partnerships and advances our values. For Israel, it develops strategic relationships and expands its global contributions. And for African nations, it expands access to cutting edge technology, defense collaboration, agricultural innovation and investment capital, while protecting the sovereignty and dignity of African nations.”

“Today’s summit is bringing together the United States and countries in Africa and the Middle East to advance cooperative and sustainable partnerships in the areas of energy security, water infrastructure, cybersecurity and ever-important emerging technologies. In doing so, we can strengthen the bonds between Israel and the rest of the world, boosting security for America’s No. 1 ally in the region,” Rosen said.

Also participating in the summit were Saul Singer, co-author of Start-up Nation, and his wife, Wendy Singer, the founding executive director of Startup Nation Central, who also previously led AIPAC’s Israel office. Speaking on a panel, the two discussed the potential for cooperation between Israel and Rwanda through deepening tech and innovation partnerships.

Shiri Fein-Grossman, CEO of the Israel-Africa Relations Institute, an Israel-based think tank, told JI, “At a time of growing geopolitical fragmentation, the strategic partnership between Israel and African nations is not peripheral, it is central to building a more stable and values-based international order.”

Israel and Rwanda have “profound similarities,” she said. “Both are small nations in complex neighborhoods, both have faced existential threats, both carry the living memory of genocide, and both understand the imperative of strong border defense and antional resilience. That experience creates not only empathy, but strategic clarity. Security is not theoretical for us, it is foundational.”

Senior congressional correspondent Marc Rod contributed reporting.