It sounds preposterous.

Why would leaders of a cash-strapped, enemy-surrounded young country, barely surviving its first 10 years, decide to open an international development agency to help struggling new countries in Africa?

Spurred by their desire to do tikkun olam (bettering the world) and create political goodwill, this is exactly what then Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Foreign Minister Golda Meir did in 1958.

Over the years, MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation — has paved the way for many Israeli academic, business and nonprofit groups to help African countries overcome serious challenges in agriculture, food security, water safety, sanitation, healthcare, education, economics, community building and gender equality.

MASHAV shares Israeli inventions, techniques, best practices and innovations with 43 African countries, and sends emergency aid to others that don’t yet have diplomatic relations with Israel.

Here’s the extraordinary story of Israel’s outstretched hand of friendship to its neighbors on the African continent.