As Israel Pivots to Africa, Top Diplomat Meets Chad President

The Times of Israel reports: A senior Israeli official met last week with the president of Chad, a Muslim-majority nation that does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. The meeting is another sign of growing ties with African nations following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to the continent earlier this month.

Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold (pictured) met President Idriss Déby on July 14 at his presidential palace in the city of Fada, in the heart of the Saharan desert, the Foreign Ministry said Friday in a statement.

The meeting follows Israel’s announcement earlier this week of the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with the Republic of Guinea, an overwhelmingly Muslim state in West Africa.

The Republic of Chad, in Central Africa, had cut diplomatic ties with Jerusalem in the 1970s. Gold’s meeting with Déby last week does not yet signify the formal renewal of relations. “We view the meeting as an important step in our relations with Chad,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon told the Times of Israel on Friday.