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Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday 29 Sivan, issued the following statement at his press conference with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi:

“We’ve had enduring relations for many decades beginning with your late father, whose grave I visited today in a very moving ceremony. We know his qualities as a visionary, as a leader, as a founder of modern Kenya. And we also remember Kenya’s assistance in the rescue mission in Entebbe.

Our pilots landed here afterwards and in retrospect we know that this was not merely an act to save innocent Israeli hostages but it was an act dealt a devastated blow to international terror at the time. Yet, we are engaged in the resurface, resurfacing of a new form of terrorism that threatens all our countries. And we must join forces at this. We discussed it in some length. And I may say that I think we see eye to eye on the nature of this problem, and I think Africa and Israel overwhelmingly see eye to eye on this. And therefore I welcome your remarks on helping us to restore observer status for Israel in the AU. This is a concrete goal and I think it tallies with our desire to join with African countries, creating a new partnership for security and development.

That partnership is so natural here in Kenya because Israel and Kenya are natural partners. We face common challenges, the first among them is as I’ve just said, terror. We all remember the horrific carnage in the Westgate shopping mall and in the Garissa University. Innocent men, women, children hunted down by blood thirsty murderers, and tragically we in Israel have also experienced such attacks on our oil soil against our own civilians. I have to say that the terrorists see us all as one enemy. And that is why we must remain united in our common war. We are.

And I know that working together will help us defeat the scourge of this terror even faster. And when I say working together it’s Kenya, Israel and other African countries that have an equal stake in defeating the forces of this radicalism that threatens all our societies.

Now, alongside these common challenges, Israel and Kenya share common opportunities in technology, water, agriculture, cyber and much more.

You know, Israel is a small country. It was founded without any natural resources. The only natural resource we had was our brain and our heart. And we’ve learned to do a lot, to do more with less. We have less water, natural water today, substantially less water than we had at the founding of Israel but our population has grown tenfold and our GDP per capita has grown 40 times. But we don’t have a water shortage, we have a water surplus. It’s all because we use technology. We do more with less. The same is true of agriculture, the same is true of energy and so many other areas. We are more than happy to partner with you because we believe you have the same potential. We believe that Africa is a continent on the rise and the rising tide will help everyone. A rising tide lifts all ships. And working together we all stand to benefit. And people, citizens of Kenya who are listening to this should know that the practical result of our cooperation can be greater prosperity and greater security for each and every one of them.

This is something that could not happen without your leadership, President Kenyatta, and without your friendship and I want to thank you for both. Thank you my friend.”

PM Netanyahu meets Kenyan President Kenyatta

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)