Uganda will join Iran war 'on the side of Israel,' military chief warns

Uganda’s Chief of Defense Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba expressed his support for Israel amid the ongoing war with Iran in a series of posts on X/Twitter Thursday. 

"We want the war in the Middle East to end now. The world is tired of it," he wrote, adding that any talk of destroying or defeating Israel will bring Uganda into the war. "On the side of Israel!" he concluded. 

In another deleted post, he claimed that Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF), the country's armed forces, will begin participating in the war "on the side of Israel" if it doesn't end soon.

"Israel has a right to exist and attacks against her must stop," he stated.

Later on Thursday, Kainerugaba said in another post that he offered the help of Ugandan defense forces to both the US and Israel.

"We could have captured Tehran in 72 hours without any bombing," he claimed, "but of course they never listen to a black man. Why bomb people who support you?" 

Last month, Kainerugaba announced in a post on X that Uganda will soon build a statue honoring Lt.-Col. Yonatan “Yoni” Netanyahu at Entebbe International Airport.

He said the statue would be placed in the exact spot where Netanyahu was killed following the 1976 hijacking of an Air France flight that led to the abduction of about 100 Jews and Israelis.

Kainerugaba said the monument is a symbol of the ties between the two countries, although no formal government announcement was made regarding the creation of the statue.

Prime Minister Netanyahu attended a memorial ceremony held at Entebbe Airport in 2016, marking the fortieth anniversary of Operation Jonathan.

"Forty years ago, they landed in the dead of night in a country led by a brutal dictator who gave refuge to terrorists. Today we landed in broad daylight in a friendly country led by a president who fights terrorists," he said during his public remarks.