Netanyahu to Attend West African Summit to Expand Support for Israel

The Times of Israel reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed Israel Saturday night to take part in a summit of West African nations in Liberia’s capital of Monrovia, saying that he would use the trip to try and garner their support for Israel at the UN and other international forums.

“The purpose of this trip is to dissolve this majority, this giant bloc of 54 African countries that is the basis of the automatic majority against Israel in the UN and international bodies,” the prime minister told journalists ahead of the flight. Netanyahu said he hopes to use his attendance at the annual conference of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to build off his July 2016 visit to the East African nations of Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia, which marked the first time in decades an Israeli premier had traveled to Africa.

“Israel is returning to Africa in a big way,” the prime minister said Saturday, reiterating a message he repeated throughout his previous trip to the continent.