Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to four African nations this week was both a personal pilgrimage and a further sign of Israel's attempts to broaden its strategic ties beyond its traditional Western allies.
His first stop was at Uganda's Entebbe Airport on Monday. It was scheduled to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Israel's commando operation to release hostages captured by Palestinian terrorists. Mr Netanyahu's elder brother, Yonatan, one of the commanders of the raid, was killed.
Entebbe was also the venue for a "counter-terrorism regional summit" at which Mr Netanyahu was joined by the leaders of Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan and Zambia. Israel has security agreements with all of these countries, most of whom are confronting Boko Haram and other Islamist terror groups.
The visit to Kenya's capital was focused mainly on business between the two countries. Eighty Israeli executives from over 50 companies interested in doing business in Africa took part in an Israel-Kenya economic forum. In addition to the deals signed, Mr Netanyahu also announced that Israel would open a trade delegation office in Nairobi this year.
Another main event on the itinerary was Mr Netanyahu's visit to the museum in Kigali commemorating the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, which was built with the assistance of Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust museum. In a press conference together with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Mr Netanyahu said: "Our two peoples learned the lesson from our tragic pasts - incitement to mass extermination precedes genocide. Words have a meaning."
One aspect of the visit not mentioned publicly was Israel's interest in discussing ways to combat Iran's growing influence in the region, and the Islamic Republic's arms smuggling to Hamas and Hizbollah through the Horn of Africa.
"There is major potential for both trade and security ties with sub-Saharan Africa," said a senior Israeli diplomat. "We can see it already in the number of visits of African leaders to Israel and the deals being signed.
"Mr Netanyahu's visit to these four countries is both an important signal that Israel is engaging with Africa, but also a signal that we are working to prevent Iran from gaining a foothold in that region."
