Chad is Fourth Country in Four Days to Promise Jerusalem Embassy

Chad told Israel on Tuesday that it plans to open a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem within a year, making it the fourth country to do so in the past week.

Serbia and Kosovo, followed by Malawi, over the weekend announced their intentions to open a Jerusalem embassy.

According to Israel’s Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen, Chad’s cabinet chairman and the president’s son, Abdelkarim Déby, said his country would establish a diplomatic mission  — and possibly an embassy — in the Israeli capital within the year.

“At the request of Minister Cohen, General Déby responded positively to advancing the establishment of an official representative office of Chad in Jerusalem,” a statement from the Intelligence Ministry said.

“Tightening relations between Israel and Chad is in the shared interest of the two countries, both in terms of security and economics,” Cohen said.

Déby is heading a delegation of Chad officials in Israel to discuss normalization with the Jewish state. He met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday to discuss cooperation between the African Muslim nation and the Jewish state, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.

The two sides “discussed the appointment of ambassadors and the opening of representations, including the possibility of opening an embassy in Jerusalem. They also discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation in a range of areas including the war on terrorism, cyber, water and agriculture. ” it said.

“The most important thing is give my warmest regards to your father and to the people of Chad. I mentioned our relations in the discussions about beginning peace with the Emirates. I mention it and I want to do more than mention it. I want to be able to advance it even further. So welcome. It’s good to see you,” Netanyahu told Déby in the meeting.

According to Cohen’s office, the delegation lauded Israel’s recent normalization with the United Arab Emirates.

In January 2019, Netanyahu made a joint announcement with Déby’s father, President Idriss Déby, stating the resumption of relations between the two countries. Late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi strong-armed Chad into cutting ties with Israel in the 1970s.