President Yoweri Museveni and his visitor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have held a press conference in which Ugandan leader said he his country was considering opening an embassy in Jerusalem.
I welcome Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara to Uganda again. He is the only Israel PM to visit Uganda and doing so more than once shows the strong relations we have.
We have had long discussions on bilateral issues. Uganda and Israel are cooperating in areas of; Agriculture, Security, Health sector and ICT among others. We also discussed the issue of opening embassies in the two countries.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has proposed the issue of having direct flights between Tel Aviv and Entebbe, and this is something we are going to take up, now that Uganda Airlines is operational.
Meanwhile, the Israeli national carrier can begin flying to Uganda as soon as they are ready. I thank PM Netanyahu and his wife for visiting Uganda and wish them well. “Regarding the issue of the embassy, we are assessing it,” Museveni said.
“What is for sure is there is a part of Jerusalem which was in Israel, this hasn’t moved,” Museveni added, saying “having it here, having it there – I don’t see why we wouldn’t… we are studying that.”
Museveni made the statement in response to a suggestion by the Israeli premier, who told him in front of the cameras: “I have a suggestion. You open an embassy in Jerusalem, and we’ll open one in Kampala.”
The Israeli prime minister also announced direct flights between Tel Aviv and Kampala.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has proposed the issue of having direct flights between Tel Aviv and Entebbe, and this is something we are going to take up, now that Uganda Airlines is operational,” he said adding that Israeli national carrier can begin flying to Uganda as soon as they are ready.
Uganda and Israel are cooperating in areas of; Agriculture, Security, Health sector and ICT among others.
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 Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, South Sudan President Salva Mayardit, then-Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe, Zambian President Edgar Lungu and former Tanzanian Foreign Minister Augustine Mahiga.
