Why Netanyahu's Africa visit is worth the cost
Those criticizing the cost of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Africa are missing the point; it could open doors to African markets and strengthen Israel both economically and diplomatically.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opponents and rivals have not missed the chance to criticize and ridicule his extravagant and wasteful visit to Africa.
Netanyahu's visit started July 4 when his entourage landed in Uganda on the 40th anniversary of the hostage rescue operation that freed the passengers of an Air France flight that was hijacked and taken to the Ugandan town of Entebbe in 1976. Netanyahu's own brother Yoni, commander of the Matkal commando unit, was killed in the rescue operation. The prime minister's official visit to four African countries — Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Ethiopia — is scheduled to end July 8. The visit was intended to bolster economic and diplomatic ties between Israel and Africa. Just last week, the Israeli government approved a program worth 50 million shekels ($13 million) to advance this goal.
Thousands of sharp words have been written over the past few days on one of the most expensive overseas visits by an Israeli prime minister. The authors detailed the steep costs of security, leased aircraft, a safari, as well as costs associated with the entourage. According to some media sources, the total price tag of the visit came to 28 million shekels ($7 million). The prime minister's office responded that the actual cost was 12.5 million shekels ($3.2 million).
Among the many critics of this visit was Isaac Herzog, the chairman of the opposition party Zionist Camp, who released a particularly scathing reaction: "It seems that Netanyahu went to give up in Africa and leave the whole country without a solution to the wave of terrorism, without a solution to the crisis of the settlers, without a solution to the cries of pain from the families of the missing [Israelis held in Gaza]. Netanyahu isn't going. He is fleeing from a military solution and fleeing from a diplomatic solution. He is fleeing from [Education Minister Naftali] Bennett and [Defense Minister Avigdor] Liberman, and he is fleeing from European pressure."
