Key facts
- Eritrean opposition figures are using a warehouse in southern Tel Aviv as a base for a movement seeking to overthrow President Isaias Afwerki's government.
- The movement, known as Brigade Nhamedu, is building a global political organization to mobilize Eritreans in exile.
- Around 1,300 people participated in a vote held last month in Nes Ziona, Israel, to elect a 51-member international council.
- Brigade Nhamedu is led by Eritrean activist Beyene Gerezgiher, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- The movement claims to have sources within Eritrea, including among senior government and military figures.
- Eritrea and Israel established diplomatic ties in 1993, but Israel closed its embassy in Asmara in 2022.
Eritrean opposition figures are reportedly using a warehouse in southern Tel Aviv as a base for a movement aiming to overthrow President Isaias Afwerki's government. The group, known as Brigade Nhamedu, is working to establish a global political organization capable of mobilizing Eritreans in exile and eventually returning to Eritrea, according to a Haaretz report.
Brigade Nhamedu's international council, elected last month with participation from around 1,300 individuals in Israel, has been meeting weekly to discuss funding, diplomatic outreach, and communication with people inside Eritrea. The movement is led by Beyene Gerezgiher, an activist based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, who claims the group has sources within the Eritrean government and military.
The organizing efforts come amid strained relations between Israel and the Eritrean government. Diplomatic ties established in 1993 have cooled, with Israel closing its embassy in Asmara in 2022. Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh stated that Asmara decided not to have relations with Israel and questioned Israel's growing ties with Somaliland. A senior Eritrean official also told Middle East Eye that Eritrea rejected a UAE request for a military facility on an island that would have been shared with Israel.
Eritrea has been governed by President Afwerki since 1993 without national elections, and its constitution has never been implemented. The system of indefinite national service is cited as a major driver for the approximately two million Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers living abroad. Brigade Nhamedu aims to unify these scattered communities into an opposition force.
Violent confrontations between supporters and opponents of the Eritrean government in several countries, including Tel Aviv, have brought the movement more visibility. At least nine Eritreans have been killed in Israel since clashes erupted in Tel Aviv in September 2023. Brigade Nhamedu's finance manager, Dawit Teferi, stated the group did not anticipate the violence but that it demonstrated the intensity of Eritreans' political attachment to their homeland and accelerated the formation of a more organized opposition.