The Horn of Africa has become a tinderbox, as the internal conflict in Ethiopia threatens to spread to Eritrea and Sudan, with reports of an Ethiopian military build-up near the Eritrean border. In the midst of this crisis, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to give his full support. “Had a fruitful and constructive call with President Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to deliberate upon bilateral relations and key regional developments, reaffirming our commitment to cooperation on matters of mutual interest,” Abiy said, in a statement posted on his social media.

The call, reportedly initiated by Netanyahu, followed a separate telephone conversation on October 6, between Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos, and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. The Netanyahu phone call prompted widespread fears that he was offering full political and military support for Ethiopia, if war broke out between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Observers see Netanyahu’s move as an attempt to create an Israel-United Arab Emirate-Ethiopia axis, to expand the crisis on the Arabian Peninsula into the Horn of Africa.