2 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The transitional president of Chad, Mahamat Idriss Déby, inaugurated this Thursday in Tel Aviv the country’s Embassy in Israel and highlighted the “reinforcement” of cooperation between the two countries, in an act that was attended by the Prime Minister Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu after the two countries restored diplomatic relations in 2019.
“I have proceeded this morning in Tel Aviv, together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to the inauguration of the Embassy of Chad in Israel,” Déby said on his account on the social network Twitter. “I am glad for the crowning of our joint efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation,” she said, along with several photographs of the official act.
For his part, Netanyahu has pointed out that both countries are “strengthening their friendship and common interests to seek peace, security and prosperity.” ‘Bibi’ has praised the “excellent discussions” held on Wednesday with Déby after his arrival in the country and has shown his desire to meet with him in the future in the African country, as reported by the prime minister’s office through a statement.
Netanyahu paid a 2018 visit to Chad during his previous term as prime minister, a year before the two countries restored relations, broken in the 1970s after years of secret contacts. The decision was a precedent to the historic ‘Abraham Accords’, signed in 2020 and which involved the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
Déby assumed the leadership of a military junta in April 2021, after his father, Idriss Déby Itno, was killed during a military operation against the rebel coalition Front for Alternation and Harmony in Chad (FACT), after 30 years in the power. The opposition has since denounced that he is moving to extend his role as transitional president and has partially boycotted a dialogue process.