After more than twenty years without high-level representation in Israel, President Felix Tshisekedi said that he will appoint, in the coming days, an ambassador in Tel Aviv. For the moment, the embassy is headed by a simple charge d’affaires.
“Relations between my country and Israel have long been lethargic. Yet we have huge areas of convergence, interests in security, economics, culture and science,” he said.
The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Felix Tshisekedi, has announced the resumption of his country’s high-level diplomatic relations with the State of Israel.
He made the announcement during an address at the annual policy conference of the Israeli-American Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the largest pro-Israel group in the U.S., in Washington.
Describing himself as a “great friend of the Jewish people”, he said: ”Relations between my country and Israel have long been lethargic. Yet we have huge areas of convergence, interests in security, economics, culture and science. After more than 20 years without adequate representation, in the next few days I will proceed to the appointment of an extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador to the State of Israel, he said. For the moment, the embassy is headed by a simple charge d’affaires.
He also announced the arrival in Kinshasa of Chief Rabbi of Brussels Albert Guigui in the framework of the strengthening of spiritual ties between the two nations.
Felix Tshisekedi has promised to visit Israel later this year with the aim of strengthening bilateral tie
The installation of an “economic section” of the embassy in Jerusalem is also envisaged in order to strengthen the DRC’s ties with Israel in particular in the areas of agriculture,science and technology.
Tshisekedi, who was elected president in January 2019, clarified that the DRC embassy remains in Tel Aviv, but that he has no problem of opening a new economic section in Jerusalem. He also expressed support for U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict known as the ‘’deal of the century.’’
