Israeli PM in East Africa to enhance terrorism fight
July 3, 2016 (KAMPALA) – The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu was in Uganda as part of his four-nation tour of Africa and will visit Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia.
“All of our peoples will benefit greatly from our growing partnership,” he stressed.
Israel wants African nations to back it at the United Nations, where its General Assembly in 2012 overwhelmingly recognized Palestine as a nonmember observer state.
Exactly 40 years ago, the Israeli Prime Minister’s elder brother, Yonatan, was killed by Ugandan soldiers at Entebbe International Airport, when he led Israeli commandos in a daring mission to rescue hijacked Israeli passengers.
While speaking at the same occasion on Monday, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni said his government supports a two-state remedy to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
“The two of you belong to that area,” Museveni said in a written speech, from which he keeps referring to Palestine. He also urged both Israel and Palestine to live side by side in two states in peace and with recognized borders.
In attendance were South Sudan’s Salva Kiir, Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, Zambia’s Edward Lungu and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
Netanyahu later attended a summit meeting of regional leaders on security and the fight against Islamic extremists, and a communiqué issued at the end said the leaders “emphasized the need for increased regional and international co-operation in all fields, including cyber security and information gathering to confront this scourge.”
The Israeli Prime Minister left Uganda for the Kenyan capital, Nairobi on Monday evening.
(ST)