Kenya’s President said his country will work to restore Israel’s observer status at the 54-member African Union, as he met with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We believe that there is need for us as a continent once again to reengage Israel on a more positive basis, with an understanding that our partnership can help make this world that much more secure,” said President Uhuru Kenyatta.

He stressed that Israel is a critical partner in the battle against terrorism, the most serious challenge facing the world today.

The upgrading of Israel’s status in the pan-African body is critical not for Israel, “but for all those who see this terrorism as a common challenge,’’ he said.

Kenya has long been a target of extremist attacks which have hit Israeli interests. In a near simultaneous attack in 2002, al-Qaida extremists blew up an explosives-laden vehicle at an Israeli-owned hotel on the Kenyan coast, killing 11 people, while others shot at an Israeli jetliner.

Kenyatta pledged: “Kenya will continue to push, to see how Israel can regain her observer position at the African Union.”

At the behest of Libya, Israel’s observer status was ended in 2002.

Netanyahu, who is the first Israeli Prime Minister in office to visit Kenya, said that regaining observer status “has very great significance for us”.

Kenyatta emphasised the importance of security cooperation between Israel and Africa. He said: “It would be foolhardy for one to sit back and say that, faced with those challenges [of terrorism], Kenya and Africa cannot engage in Israel in this particular issue.”

He added: “I strongly believe it is critical for us to re-evaluate our relations with the State of Israel, given the challenges we on the African continent especially are faced with today.”

A bilateral economic agreement was signed between Israel and Kenya as Israel also agreed to open a commercial attache’s office in Nairobi.

Israel played a prominent role in assisting newly independent African countries in the 1960s, but those relations crumbled in the 1970s, when Arab countries, promising aid, pressured African nations to limit or cut ties with Israel. African states were also opposed to Israel's close ties to South Africa's apartheid government.

In exchange for its expertise in security and other fields, like agriculture and water, Israel now wants African states to side with it at the United Nations.

Netanyahu told reporters he has set breaking the automatic majority against Israel in international forums as a strategic goal for the country, and that upgrading Israel’s position in the African Union will go a long way toward achieving that goal.

After visiting Uganda and Kenya, the Israeli premier was set to visit Rwanda, before ending his trip in Ethiopia on Thursday.