Israel's Netanyahu to visit Chad 'soon': PM's office

By Abdel Raouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Chad "soon", according to a Tuesday statement released by Netanyahu's office.

From Chad, the statement said, Netanyahu is expected to announce the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries following a decades-long hiatus.

The prime minister's office did not give a date for the upcoming visit, which would follow this week’s visit to Tel Aviv by Chadian President Idriss Deby.

During his visit, Deby met with both Netanyahu and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.

Diplomatic relations between Chad and Israel were first established in the 1960s. N’Djamena cut them in 1972, however, due to pressure exerted by Arab states.