Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced on X a fruitful and constructive call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on bilateral relations and regional developments (Image: Abiy Ahmed on X)
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he held a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss bilateral relations and regional developments.
In a post on X on Monday, Abiy described the conversation as fruitful and constructive and said the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to cooperation on matters of mutual interest. “Had a fruitful and constructive call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to deliberate upon bilateral relations and key regional developments, reaffirming our commitment to cooperation on matters of mutual interest,” he wrote, tagging Netanyahu’s account. HornDiplomat, citing the post, noted that Abiy did not specify which regional developments were discussed or announce any agreements resulting from the call.
The timing places the call against a crowded Horn and Red Sea backdrop. Northern Ethiopia remains in active fighting and diplomacy after federal advances in Tigray, competing Ethiopia-Eritrea letters at the UN Security Council, and closed Council consultations on Tuesday requested by the United States. Across the Red Sea, Houthi attacks on Saudi airports and a new threat against Aramco facilities have unsettled regional energy and aviation routes. Abiy did not say which regional issues were discussed, and no joint readout was published. Natna News reported on Tuesday that, according to the statement, the main focus of the call was deepening cooperation in telecommunications, aviation, logistics and energy.
Israel and Ethiopia have long maintained security, agricultural and diplomatic ties, and Addis Ababa has often described Israel as a partner on technology and development. Ethiopian Airlines and other commercial links also connect the two economies. No readout from Netanyahu’s office was publicly available by Tuesday evening. The call followed an October 6 phone call in which Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he and Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos discussed “the importance of Ethiopia’s unity and stability” and a shared interest in preserving peace and stability in the Horn of Africa. Abiy’s X post remains the primary public text from the Ethiopian side.
Separately, Rich Tedd of AfriMEOSINT reported that on Sunday, Ethiopian Airlines freighter ET-AVX, a Boeing 737-800F operating flight ET3414 from Addis Ababa toward Ben Gurion, was denied entry to Israeli airspace and ordered back after takeoff because a crew member held Indonesian citizenship, then flew again after a crew change. Tedd did not link the incident to the call.
On Tuesday, Abiy posted about a visit to Ethiopia’s Meteorological Institute and the value of weather data for development and resilience.
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