Chad opens embassy, invites Netanyahu to visit

Chad’s President Mahamat Idriss Deby invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit his country for the second time when the two men inaugurated the country’s embassy in Ramat Gan.

“The relations between the two countries will reap great benefits for your nation and for mine,” Mahamat Deby said.

He thanked Netanyahu for the warm welcome he had received in Israel this week, as he pledged his friendship and support.

“I want to use this opportunity to invite you to visit Chad,” he said.

“This is a great and historic day for Chad and for Israel,” said Mahamat Deby as he paused to pay homage to his father, the country’s former president, who together with Netanyahu had formalized diplomatic relations between the two countries five years ago.

“I want to acknowledge my father, who was a brave and visionary man,” he said.

Prior to departing for Paris, Netanyahu lauded the growing ties between Israel and Chad, a mostly Muslim country on the African continent.

“After years of covert meetings and my historic visit to Chad, today was another historic day,” Netanyahu said.

“Together with the President of Chad, we opened the Chadian Embassy in Israel,” Netanyahu said as he pledged

to “continue to expand and deepen the circle of peace with additional countries, both near and far.”

At the embassy, he told Mahamat Deby that “we are strengthening our friendship and our common interests in pursuing peace, security and prosperity.”

Netanyahu visited Chad in 2018 during his last tenure as prime minister, a year prior to transforming the covert ties between the two countries into public ones, as part of his push to strengthen Israel’s relationship with the African continent.

The normalization of Israeli-Chad relations has been viewed as path-breaking, when it comes to Israel’s ties in Africa and setting a precedent for the 2020 Abraham Accords in

which the Jewish state normalized ties with four Arab ones.

Common security threats have underpinned the relationship between the two countries and have been a component of Mahamat Deby’s visit. He met on Thursday morning with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Chad has been active in combating terror groups in the Sahel region and Gallant spoke with him about the importance of weakening Iran and Hezbollah’s influence there.

“The dialogue we held today reflects the growing winds of change seen in the Abraham Accords that are also blowing towards the African continent,” Gallant said.

“I am confident that our developing ties will contribute to both nations and to the wider region.”