Israel confirmed a diplomatic rapprochement with Muslim-majority Chad on Sunday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a visit to the Chadian capital to stress their mutual interest in confronting Islamist insurgencies.
Seeking to rebuild ties with Africa damaged by the occupation of Palestinian territories in the 1967 Middle East war, Israel said in November that diplomatic links with Chad would be revived after President Idriss Deby paid the first official visit to Jerusalem by a Chadian leader. Speaking at a joint press event, Netanyahu said recent attacks by the Islamist Boko Haram insurgency and a militant attack on a hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, last week showed the need to cooperate on security.
"The game is far from lost if we pull together," Netanyahu said. "We are happy to know that a Muslim-majority country is connected through diplomatic ties to Israel."