Israeli’s Netanyahu to Meet Sudanese Officials in Uganda

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu headed earlier today to Uganda for a one-day official visit, where he is set to meet a number of Sudanese officials.

Israeli sources said that Netanyahu will hold meetings with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to discuss bilateral relations and other regional issues.

In addition, Netanyahu's office revealed that the Israeli prime minister will also hold meetings with a number of leaders of neighboring African countries.

Netanyahu stated, before boarding the plane, “I hope that we will have very good news for the State of Israel.”

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Meanwhile, other sources indicated that he hoped to obtain a declaration from Uganda and other countries regarding the opening of their embassies in the occupied city of Jerusalem.

"I am setting out for another visit to Africa, my fifth in three and a half years," Netanyahu stated. "Israel is making a big return to Africa, and Africa has already returned to Israel. These are important ties politically, economically and in terms of security," he added.

In July 2016, the prime minister participated in a ceremony in Uganda to mark the 40th anniversary of Operation Entebbe, a hostage rescue by Israeli commandos at Entebbe Airport in 1976. The operation, which aimed to rescue 106 passengers of an Air France flight that was hijacked by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, succeeded in freeing 102 of the hostages. Netanyahu's brother Yonatan, who led the mission, was killed.

During the 2016 visit, Netanyahu met the presidents of Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Zambia, in addition to and the Ethiopian former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe and former Tanzanian Foreign Minister Augustine Mahiga.

Reports in Israel and abroad in recent years have said that Israel might renew its diplomatic relations with several Muslim countries on the African continent, including Mali, Niger, and Sudan. After Netanyahu visited Chad in 2019, it was reported that Israel was working to formalize ties with Sudan, and Israeli officials spoke about it publicly on several occasions, especially after the ouster of dictator Omar al-Bashir.