In election bid, Zimbabwe opposition pledges better ties with Israel

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s main opposition party announces it will create a $100 billion economy within a decade and improve ties with Israel — a major foreign policy shift — if it wins July 30 elections.

The MDC-T, which has re-energized under 40-year-old leader Nelson Chamisa, launches its election manifesto Thursday while the state broadcaster, which is closely aligned with the ruling party, provides rare live coverage.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took power in November when longtime leader Robert Mugabe stepped down under pressure from the military and ruling party, has promised free and fair elections in a country with a history of disputed polls. This will be the first vote without Mugabe since independence from white minority rule in 1980.

Both Mnangagwa and the opposition are pledging to improve the once-prosperous economy, which collapsed under Mugabe, and attract foreign investors put off by years of international sanctions over alleged human rights abuses.

Deepening political ties with Israel by opening an embassy there would mark an important shift for Zimbabwe, which enjoys close relations with the Palestinians, who have maintained a diplomatic mission in the southern African country since 1980.

The opposition says it wanted to get closer to Israel “for spiritual renewal.”

Chamisa also pledges to re-engage the West, which has indicated that a free and fair election is a key step toward lifting sanctions. “We will not look West or East, but we will look everywhere following the dollar,” he says.

— AP