Uganda May Move Embassy to Jerusalem Next Week - Report

JERUSALEM, Israel – Uganda may be the next country to officially open its embassy in Jerusalem, The Jerusalem Post reports.

Israeli media reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Uganda next week, but it is unclear what the meeting is for.

While a spokesperson for Israel’s Foreign Ministry refused to confirm the Post’s report, a Ugandan pastor said he has heard rumors of an upcoming embassy move. 

"I got a note from sources that Uganda is moving the embassy," said Pastor Drake Kanaabo, who ministers at the Redeemed of the Lord Evangelistic Church Makerere in Kampala, Uganda.

“On a spiritual level, Uganda regards Israel as the mother of Christianity," he added.

Uganda has a strong relationship with Israel. The country’s president is an evangelical Christian. Pastor Kanaabo says many Christians are praying for the Jewish State. Now, many want their government to take a firm symbolic action.

"Ugandan Christians are no longer standing on one leg for Israel, but two - in prayer and action. Israel is the only first-world country that is near to Uganda and Africa."

In 2016, Netanyahu visited Uganda to honor his brother who was killed 40 years earlier in an anti-terror raid in Entebbe.

If Uganda opens an embassy in Jerusalem, it will be the fourth country to do so after the United States, Guatemala, and Paraguay.