CHADIAN leader Idriss Deby Itno on Sunday became the first president of his country to visit Israel and pledged a new era of relations when meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decades after ties were severed.

Both leaders called the visit “historic” as they met in Jerusalem with security issues high on the agenda.

Netanyahu said as they spoke to journalists after their meeting that “we never fully stopped our contacts ... but we are now expanding them at a very rapid rate.”

“And we wish to do so in all areas, first of all in fighting terrorism.” He said he hoped to visit the Muslim-majority central African nation.

Deby spoke of the two countries committing to a new era of cooperation with “the prospect of reestablishing diplomatic relations.”

But Deby also highlighted the Palestinian cause, saying pursuing relations with Israel did not change his country’s concern for the long-stalled peace process.

Chad remains “deeply attached to the peace process between Israel and Palestine,” he said.

The two men were to hold further discussions over dinner.

In a meeting Sunday evening with Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin, Deby said he wanted to “restore diplomatic relations” with the Jewish state. “Your country is an important partner in our eyes,” he told Rivlin.

Chadian security sources say the country has acquired Israeli equipment to help battle rebels.

Chad is also one of several African states engaged in Western-backed operations against Boko Haram and Islamic State jihadists in West Africa.

Earlier this month, the United States donated military vehicles and boats worth US$1.3 million to Chad as part of the campaign against Islamist militancy in the country.

Netanyahu portrayed the visit as the result of hard-won diplomatic efforts, referring to his three visits to Africa over the last couple years and his surprise trip to Oman in October.

(SD-Agencies)