Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu caused something of a stir in Nigeria when he announced late last month that Israel would take action to protect the African nation’s embattled Christian population.

The remark, made at the tail end of Netanyahu’s visit to Florida where he met with US President Donald Trump and American Evangelical leaders, came just days after surprise Christmas Day US air strikes against Islamists in northwest Nigeria, prompting fears that Israel too was preparing to take military action.

Israeli Ambassador Michael Freeman sought to set the record straight, telling Nigerian media last week that Jerusalem intends to partner with Abuja to help overcome the country’s internal security challenges, primarily through the sharing of intelligence.

“What Prime Minister Netanyahu said, and it was very clear, was that he wants to make sure that all those persecuted around the world, and he highlighted Christians around the world, not only in Nigeria, that it is important to do what Israel can,” Freeman told ARISE News. “This is about working with Nigeria. It is not about working against Nigeria. It is working with them as a partner and as an ally.”

The persecution of Christians at the hands of Islamists in the northern regions of Nigeria has been one of the most glaring examples of the failures of international humanitarian interventionism. Israel, like the US, has taken special note of this, given the propensity of Western critics to bemoan the plight of Palestinian Arab Christians while all but ignoring the frequent massacres of Christians in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.

In his remarks to US Christian leaders last month, Netanyahu noted the pivotal role of Christian Zionists in the rebirth of the Jewish state, and said Israel must repay that debt by protecting persecuted Christians wherever they are.

“It’s hard for me to conceive of the emergence of the Jewish state, the re-emergence of the Jewish state, without the support of Christian Zionists,” said Netanyahu.

“We’re conscious of the fact that Christians are being persecuted across the Middle East, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Nigeria, in Turkey and beyond,” he added. “We are joining an effort to have basically a united nations of countries that support Christian communities around the world, beleaguered communities who deserve our help… just as you are helping us, we want to help back.”

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