Uganda "Studied" the possibility of opening an embassy in Jerusalem, President Yoweri Museveni announced Monday, February 3, during a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Discussions between the two men also focused on the possibility of opening a direct airline between Uganda and Israel.
"On the embassy issue, we are discussing it"said Museveni at a press conference at the presidential palace in Entebbe after meeting with Netanyahu: "When a friend says they want your embassy in one place rather than another, we look into it. " Uganda currently has no embassies in Israel. Netanyahu said Israel will open an embassy in Uganda – the Israeli diplomatic mission to Uganda is based in Nairobi, neighboring Kenya – when Uganda opens an embassy in Jerusalem.
One of the most difficult issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the status of Jerusalem. Israel views the entire city of Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians want to make East Jerusalem the capital of the state they aspire to. Most foreign embassies are located in Tel Aviv so as not to preempt the outcome of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
The American example
But U.S. President Donald Trump broke in December 2017 with decades of international consensus by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the U.S. embassy was moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018. The Israeli government had assured that other countries would follow suit. To date, only Guatemala has also transferred and maintained its embassy in Jerusalem. Honduras announced on January 18 that it would transfer its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as soon as Israel opened an embassy in Tegucigalpa.
In recent years, Israel has strengthened its diplomatic relations with African countries, after a difficult period during which, at the time of their independence, many countries of the continent preferred to ally with the Arab rivals of the Hebrew State, seeing in particular Israeli support for the policy of apartheid practiced in South Africa. Israeli expertise in the military and agricultural fields has also created opportunities for exchanges with African countries. Israel currently has diplomatic relations with 39 of the 47 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
This visit to Uganda is Mr. Netanyahu's fifth visit to Africa "For about three and a half years"said the man on Monday morning before leaving Israel. The Israeli Prime Minister’s last visit to Uganda was in July 2016. He came to mark the 40e anniversary of the Entebbe raid, a commando operation organized by Israel to free passengers from a hijacked flight between Tel Aviv and Paris to Uganda, where the hostage takers were greeted by dictator Idi Amin Dada. Benjamin Netanyahu’s brother, Yonathan, commando chief, died during the operation.
