Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who once likened himself to Hitler, heads to Israel
The US and Canada have both had military hardware deals fall apart with the Philippines due to concerns over Duterte’s drug war. But so far sales with Israel have gone smoothly
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is set to arrive Sunday for a visit to Israel and Jordan, pursuing a pivot away from his nation’s long-time reliance on American military hardware and backing.
The four-day stay in Israel is the first by a Philippine leader in more than 60 years of diplomatic ties between the two nations, even though their links go back to Manila sheltering Jews during the Holocaust.
Duterte, accompanied by an entourage including soldiers and police, will sit down with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hold an event with some of the thousands of Filipino migrant workers in Israel.
“We assign great importance to this visit, which symbolises the strong, warm ties between our two peoples,” Israel’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
