Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in Uganda at the start of a four-country trip to East Africa, becoming the first Israeli prime minister to visit the continent in at least 30 years.
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The visit will coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Operation Thunderbolt, a counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by commandos of the Israel Defence Forces at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on July 4, 1976.
Uganda’s Entebbe Airport is where Netanyahu’s brother, Yonatan, was struck by a bullet as he led Israeli commandos in a daring rescue mission to rescue hijacked Israeli passengers.
Speaking in Entebbe, close to the site of the 1976 airport raid in which more than 100 hostages were released, Netanyahu said the visit was “deeply moving” and symbolised the changing relationship between Israel and Africa.
“As they have done for years, the Prime Minister and the Israeli people continue to extend invaluable support to Kenya; helping us build capacity and bolster internal and regional security”, said President Kenyatta.
In exchange for its expertise in security and other fields, Israel wants African states to side with it at the United Nations, where the General Assembly overwhelmingly recognized Palestine as a nonmember observer state in 2012.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said his government opposes the “indiscriminate use of violence” as well as bigotry.
Some African countries are keen to obtain Israeli agricultural and water technology, which the country has been promoting, say officials.
In an interview with Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper ahead of his visit, Netanyahu said his visit was an attempt to thaw relations.
“I’m very open about it, that’s true”, Netanyahu said, according to the paper.
He said such as step “will have very considerable effect regarding Israel’s global relations in the future, vis-a-vis our effort to bring about a very great number of countries that support Israel”.
The national anthems of Kenya and Israel were played, rounded off by a 21-gun salute in a traditional ceremony reserved for visiting Heads of State and government. The State of Israel has changed that.
Shani said that although there might have been an element of luck involved in the risky operation, the soldiers who took part in the raid were “very brave” and “were the best trained soldiers that Israel had”.
A statue of the late Yonatan Netanyahu at Entebbe, Uganda.
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“Kenya and Israel, just like other nations of the world, are facing the challenges of terrorism and today was a great opportunity to discuss ways of dealing with the issue of terrorism”, said President Kenyatta. Sections of several major roads were closed off to accommodate Netanyahu’s visit, leaving motorists facing hour-long delays and forcing many to walk to work, including Nairobi County governor Evans Kidero. Netanyahu’s trip follows years of efforts to improve ties.
