Chad Denies Netanyahu’s Embassy Claim

Israel is dealing with a minor diplomatic gaffe on Wednesday after a statement released by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu forced the African nation of Chad to release a statement of its own clarifying the situation and refuting the prime minister’s claim. On Tuesday, after a meeting with a delegation from the Chad government in Jerusalem, Netanyahu announced that the group had discussed the possibility of opening an embassy in Jerusalem. Reports in Israeli news outlets were even less nuanced, with headlines screaming that sources inside the government heard from the Chad officials that an embassy would be opened in the holy city within a year. Several hours later, however, an “urgent” tweet sent by the Chad Foreign Ministry dampened the excitement: “We categorically deny any plan to open a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem,” the statement read. Yet on Wednesday morning, Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen doubled down on Netanyahu’s words, saying the officials did in fact discuss such a move, and that he expects the Chad government to “advance the issue in a productive manner.”