Reporter's notebook: Netanyahu's respectful but low-key reception in Chad
Prime Minister Netanyahu met with the foreign minister for about 15 minutes in the VIP Welcome Hall at the airport.
By HERB KEINONUpdated: JANUARY 20, 2019 15:11Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Chad's President Idriss Deby in N'djamena, Chad in January 20, 2019(photo credit: YANIR COZIN / MAARIV)
N’DJAMENA, Chad - A respectful but decidedly low-key reception greeted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he arrived on a warm Sunday morning in the Central African nation of Chad.Netanyahu was greeted by Chad Foreign Minister Mahamat Zene, about a dozen local dignitaries – some in traditional Chad garb – and a small military honor guard.Netanyahu met with the foreign minister for about 15 minutes in the VIP Welcome Hall at the airport.From there Netanyahu’s motorcade – heavily guarded by Chad soldiers, some of whom rode in open jeeps with their faces covered – made its way through the deserted streets of the capital, about 10 minutes to the presidential palace.At the palace, a more extensive and colorful Honor Guard awaited, accompanied by a band. Netanyahu walked on a red carpet rolled out in his honor to the steps of the presidential palace where he was greeted by President Idriss Deby, clad in his distinctive white cap, whom he met last November in Jerusalem.A glass case in the palace hall displayed various gifts Deby has received from world leaders. In pride of place was a glass Hanukkah menorah featuring the Jerusalem skyline that Netanyahu gave him on his visit to Israel in November. Another miniature statuette of Jerusalem and a palm-shaped hamsa amulet that was presented by Elbit systems sit nearby.The marble-floored, chandeliered, stained-glass-windowed palace looks out upon lush gardens and waterfalls, belying the extreme poverty that lies just beyond.
