Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Eli Cohen arrived in the country on the evening of Sunday, July 16, with the objective of countering Iran's growing influence in the country.
In a statement, the diplomat emphasised the importance of his visit following President William Ruto's recent hosting of the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday, July 12.
The diplomat's statement underscored the strategic significance of Kenya as a gateway to the East African bloc. He indicated his intention to utilize this opportunity to engage in discussions on bilateral agreements.
"Against the background of Iran's attempts to increase its influence in Africa, it is especially important that we tighten ties in the neighbouring continent and strengthen Israel's position," he stated.
"Kenya has decided that Israel will lead the national cyber project for it, which indicates the international appreciation of Israel in the fields of innovation and technology," he stated.
Cohen's visit to the country was brief, lasting less than a day. According to his itinerary, he arrived in the country shortly after 4 pm and departed for Israel, where he landed on Monday, July 17.
Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua opted to focus on their talks and declined to reveal whether Raisi's visit to Kenya featured in their talks.
"We canvassed the implementation of acceptance of Kenyan agricultural products to Israel under the same qualification for European Union,"Mutua stated.
"We also explored ways of enhancing tourism between our two countries including subsidies, marketing and the resumption of the EL AL Airlines flights to Kenya and other charter flights," he added.
Cohen's visit to Kenya took place just days after Raisi's reception at State House, during which 22 Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) were signed.
Some of the deals Kenya and Iran struck ranged from education, scholarships, infrastructure, health, water, fisheries and agriculture.
Notably, it was also agreed that Iran would set up a vehicle manufacturing plant in Mombasa which would produce cars named Kifaru (Rhino).
Iran vs Israel: At the centre of the tension between Iran and Israel is the development of nuclear armament by the Middle East country.
