The government has extended an invitation to the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yair Lapid, to visit Juba for bilateral talks. The talks are geared towards cementing the relationship between Israel and South Sudan.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mayiik Ayii Deng, and his Israeli counterpart held a lengthy phone conversation on Thursday where Lapid’s visit was discussed.
According to the South Sudan Ministry of Foreign and International Cooperation’s official Facebook page, the officials discussed regional peace before Deng made the invitation.
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Mayiik Ayii Deng, received a phone call [on Thursday] afternoon from the Israeli Foreign Minister, H. E Yair Lapid who called to thank the government of South Sudan for always supporting the State of Israel.”
“The two ministers discussed ways to strengthen the existing cordial bilateral relations between the State of Israel and South Sudan. They also discussed issues related to regional peace and stability. “Minister Deng extended an invitation to his counterpart, H. E Lapid, to visit South Sudan before he becomes Israel’s Prime Minister in August next year,” it reported.
The South Sudan-Israel relationship is a long-standing one that began in the late 1860s when the country was a part of the Arabs’ dominated government, Sudan, and continued through the 1980s – 2005 civil war that culminated in the South’s self-rule.
Hours after it attained independence on July 9, 2011, Israel was among the first states to recognise South Sudan’s sovereignty. It offered the new state economic help.
Five months later, in December 2011, President Salva Kiir paid a one-day visit to the Jewish state and met with President Reuven Rivlin and the former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
To cement relations, the Jewish state has offered South Sudanese scholarships in various fields, including agriculture, for which Israel is known despite its unfavourable geographical and weather conditions.