Kigali, 7 July 2016
President and First Lady Jeannette Kagame today received Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and wife Sara Netanyahu who were in Rwanda on a one day official visit. The visit begun with a visit to Kigali Memorial Centre followed by a private and extended meeting focusing on various sectors including military and security, energy, infrastructures, cyber, agriculture and water.
The two Principals then looked on as each country’s ambassador signed bilateral agreements before holding a press conference with local, regional and international members of the Press;
“Given our tragic histories, we’ve been shaped to do things in a way that gives priority to our people. In Rwanda, we’ve never done anything that’s not in the interests of our people. That’s what democracy is about. We must put in place measures to deal with genocide denial upfront. We have the capacity to make sure that Genocide/Holocaust never happens again in our countries,” said President Kagame.
“My people know the pain of genocide as well, and this is a unique bond that neither one of our peoples would prefer to have. Yet we both persevered. Despite the pain and despite the horror, we survived. We never lost hope; and you never lost hope. Today Israel and Rwanda are successful states and models for progress. We have learned, both our peoples, I think a valuable lesson from our tragic pasts: Genocide is preceded by incitement to mass murder. Words matter. They have the power to kill,” Prime Minister Netanyahu added.
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