Several tilapia species are native to the Sea of Galilee. Fishing for them goes back at least to the Stone Age.
You are right the whole species is from Western Africa and are common in the Nile River system as well. They naturally are herbivorous and clean it is thought that the story of the 5000 and fishes it was a species of tilapia that was eaten.
That said tilapia have been taken to Asia and are grown in horrifying conditions using human sewage waters to feed the ponds which grow the algae that the tilapia eat. It’s also common to have them in the ponds under chicken coup and where the runoff from hog pens is washed too. Hence the never EVER eat tilapia from China or any Asian countries. The stuff farmed here in the USA if not grown on animal effluent I would consider.