Israel will dispatch a delegation to South Sudan in the near future to determine how it can assist the new country, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced Tuesday following a meeting between the premier and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit in Jerusalem, Xinhua reported.
Prior to the meeting with Netanyahu, Kiir visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and met with Israeli President Shimon Peres.
A statement issued by Peres' office said Kiir emphasized that his country is interested in expanding its cooperation with Israel in several areas, mainly agriculture, water development and advanced technology.
Peres heeded the request by pledging Israel's support. "This is a moving and historic moment for me and the State of Israel has supported and will continue to support your country in all areas in order to strengthen and develop it," Peres said.
He reminded Kiir that as the Israeli deputy defense minister in the 1960s, he accompanied then-Prime Minister Levi Eshkol to Paris for discussions with local leaders from southern Sudan, which eventually led to the Israeli assistance in agriculture and infrastructure.
Israel was among the first nations to recognize South Sudan after it declared independence in July. Netanyahu and Kiir met at the United Nations two months later.
Kiir arrived in Israel Tuesday for a one-day visit and was scheduled to meet Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman later in the day, local media reported.
Israeli diplomatic sources said Kiir had requested that his visit be kept under the radar, but his meeting with Netanyahu was expected to center on the flow of illegal African migrants who infiltrate into Israel through its desert border with Egypt.
Earlier Tuesday, the Jerusalem Post reported that Netanyahu would ask Kiir to accommodate as many returning Sudanese nationals as possible. Over 50,000 illegal workers, the overwhelming majority of whom are African asylum seekers, currently reside in Israel, according to government figures.
Netanyahu, who is planning to visit a host of sub-Saharan African nations in February, has reportedly raised the possibility of repatriating the Sudanese infiltrators and flying them to their newly-founded country during the meeting with Kiir.
The Israeli cabinet approved last week a 160-million-U.S.- dollar plan that aims to stem the flow of African migrants, part of which will be invested in the high-tech fence Israel is constructing along the frontier.