The head of Uganda’s army has suggested his country could join the Iran War on Israel’s side if the Jewish state’s existence appears under threat.
General Muhoozi Kainerugaba threatened a strong response to any suggestion that Israel could be “defeated” by the Islamic Republic in a tweet on Thursday.
"We want the war in the Middle East to end now. The world is tired of it,” he wrote.
"But any talk of destroying or defeating Israel will bring us into the war. On the side of Israel!”
Kainerugaba’s comments appear to be emblematic of a shift in Uganda’s foreign policy towards Israel.
The two nations’ relations have been strained, particularly since, under Idi Amin, Uganda gave sanctuary to the Palestinian terrorists who hijacked Air France Flight 139 in 1976, leading to the IDF raid on Entebbe Airport.
Neither has a resident ambassador in the other’s capital, though Kampala does maintain a non-resident representative in Cairo, and the East African state’s long-running partnerships with Russia and China have contributed to tensions.
However, in recent months, the government of President Yoweri Museveni has made more positive overtures towards Jerusalem.
Most notably, last month, Kainerugaba, who is Museveni’s son, announced that a statue of Yonatan Netanyahu, the elder brother of the Israeli prime minister, would be erected at Entebbe.
Yonatan was among the IDF commandos who participated in the raid and was killed while leading a unit to free the 102 hostages held in the airport on July 4, 1976.
"In order to strengthen our close blood relations with Israel, we shall soon unveil a statue to Yoni Netanyahu at the exact spot he was killed at Entebbe Airport,” wrote Kainerugaba.
"Yoni was the big brother of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. God bless Uganda and Israel.”
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