Bibi Tours Africa: The Israeli Prime Minister Visits Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Uganda
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing visit to four sub-Saharan African countries got off to an awkward start on July 4, when 71-year-old Ugandan dictator Yoweri Museveni gave a puttering and gaffe-filled speech at Entebbe Airport to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the successful Israeli raid that ended a hostage crisis there.
Speaking in front of six other African leaders and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Museveni forgot the name of former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, appeared to have only faint idea what the Balfour Declaration was, and referred to Israel as Palestine more than once. Museveni’s laughter after saying that “we’d be fighting you now” if the Jews had ended up settling in Uganda—as was seriously proposed in 1903—was good-natured, though it came across somewhat ominously. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu smiled throughout Musevni’s speech, and when it was his turn to speak, he thanked Museveni for the invitation to visit the country, and praised him as a staunch ally in the fight against terrorism.