Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu looks set to become the first sitting Israeli Prime Minister to visit Singapore.
According to a Jerusalem Post report, the 67-year-old announced he would make the trip at a cabinet meeting on Sunday (30 October). It would be a reciprocal visit for the one that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made to Israel in April.
The Republic is one of four countries Netanyahu plans to visit, in addition to Australia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. No exact dates were given.
“Israel’s international relations are spreading in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and many other places,” said Netanyahu. “We realise that this development flows from Israel’s technological and economic strength on one hand, and its security and intelligence capabilities on the other.”
In November 1986, Israeli president Chaim Herzog paid a three-day official visit to Singapore, sparking protests by various political groups in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
According to a Straits Times report from 1986, they urged Singapore to call off Herzog’s visit by taking into account the prevailing sympathy of Muslims in the region towards the Palestinians’ struggle against the Israeli government.
Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com
