BY HERB KEINON
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chadian President Idris Deby, January 20, 2019. (photo credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)
N’Djamena, Chad — Israel is making inroads into the Muslim World, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday at the presidential Palace in N’Djamena before signing documents with Chad President Idriss Deby formally re-establishing ties between the two countries.
“We are making history,” Netanyahu said of the reestablishment of ties with what he called a “giant” country in Africa.
“We are turning Israel into a rising world power. There are those who tried to prevent this, but without success,” he said in reference to Iranian and Palestinian efforts to stop Chad from establishing ties with Israel.
“It is significant for us the Chad is a country with a Muslim majority that seeks friendship with Israel,” Netanyahu said. “There are other such countries, but in Africa this is particularly significant,” he added.
Referring to the struggle being waged in this region of Africa with Islamic radical extremists, and noting the terrorist attack last week in Kenya, Netanyahu said that the future of Africa depends on the future of the Sahel.
“What happens here can affect the entire world,” he said, adding that Israel and Chad will now work together to impress the importance of the struggle on other critical allies around the world.
Netanyahu called Chad a very important country for Israel and said that there is much they can do to cooperate along a wide range of fields – including security, water, health, technology and agriculture.
Netanyahu, who said that both he and Deby like to read history, said that the Chadian president spoke to him about African prisoners of war in World War II, who were murdered by the Nazis.
“This is a story that has to be told,” Netanyahu said. “You suffered because you were black, we suffered because we were Jews. We refuse to accept this fate and we raised ourselves from defeat to create a new future for ourselves and for each other.”
Deby, in his comments spoke of the necessity for countries to join hands to fight terrorism. He said Chad was fighting terror on its borders and is prepared to continue the struggle.
Deby made it clear that the re-establishment of ties with Israel would not come at the expense of support for the Palestinians, and the Chad is in favor negotiations between the two sides toward an overall solution.
The statements and the signing of the Declaration at the Presidential Palace came after a couple of hours of meetings, first between Netanyahu and Deby alone, and then by the wider staff including National Security advisor Meir Ben Street,and the Prime Minister’s Military Attache Avi Bluth.
Source: The Jerusalem Post
