Israel’s peripatetic President Isaac Herzog is on the move again. Barely two weeks after his return from Australia, Herzog began a two-day state visit to Ethiopia on Tuesday.
Israel has a long history with Ethiopia, dating back to the time of Queen Makeda, the Queen of Sheba, who, according to legend, visited King Solomon in Jerusalem, and had a son with him named Menelik.
In more recent times, Emperor Haile Selassie visited pre-state Israel and had a house in Jerusalem to which he fled in May 1936, following the Italian invasion of his country. Selassie was reinstated in May 1941.
There is an Ethiopia Street in Jerusalem.
Israeli military assistance to Ethiopia
Over the years, Israeli military personnel gave much assistance to Ethiopia, even before the official establishment of diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and Israel.
In March 1963, both Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin spent a week in Ethiopia as the guests of Selassie.
In the 1960,s there was a large Israeli military presence in Ethiopia training Ethiopian forces.
After the Yom Kippur War, ties between the countries were severed, although there were security relations beneath the radar.
Full diplomatic ties were established in 1992, with embassies in both countries.
Israel has long placed a high priority on relations with Ethiopia, more so now, as Ethiopia recently hosted an African summit meeting in Addis Ababa, and several African states are anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian.
Herzog’s schedule in Ethiopia includes meetings with President Taye Atske Selassie, Prime Minister of Ethiopia and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Abiy Ahmed Ali, and leaders of the local Jewish community.
In all probability, the latter will want to know how much more time needs to elapse before people who have been waiting for years to be reunited with family members in Israel can board a plane bound for Ben Gurion International Airport.