A new dawn is unfolding in the Israel-Arab relations World as Sudan is but a few ink drops away from becoming the third Arab country to normalize ties with Israel this year alone.
International media, Associated Press confirmed that a senior Israeli delegation was in Sudan earlier this week. Backed with high profile U.S. diplomatic mission, the meeting is believed to have been the final touches to normalize ties between the age-long ‘rivals.’
The development comes in the backdrop of Sudan’s interim government signing a pact with the U.S. that has successfully removed the country from the U.S. list of
The deal washes off a considerable amount of stain from the otherwise tainted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on one hand and on the other bring favour to U.S. Donald Trump’s foreign policy as the country heads to the polls on November 3rd.
The Sudan – Israel pact would be the third win for Trump’s after the Bahrain deal and the one with the United Arab Emirates earlier this year.
https://theexchange.africa/countries/kenya/kenya-south-sudan-sign-deal-on-oil-and-mining/
Talks in the dessert
While riots and demonstration in protest to the extremely bad economic situation are ongoing across Sudan including the capital Khartoum, high profile talks were held somewhere in dessert country.
The high profile delegation to Sudan is reported to have included the acting director-general of Netanyahu’s office Ronen Peretz and with him was Brig. Gen. Miguel Correa, the senior director for Gulf Affairs on the U.S. National Security Council.
The Sudanese team had Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan who is the Head of Sudan’s transitional government and some top government advisers.
What is expected of the deal is that Sudan will now be eligible for Israeli aid, investment and debt relief.
Background
Back in 1993, the U.S. designated Sudan a state sponsor of terrorism, in part for its support of anti-Israel militant groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
Sudan was believed to have served as a pipeline for Iran to supply weapons to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. Israel was believed to have been behind airstrikes in Sudan that destroyed a weapons convoy in 2009 and a weapons factory in 2012.
Now, Israeli’s Netanyahu has made it a priority to forge ties with formerly hostile countries in Africa and the Arab world in the absence of any progress with the Palestinians during his more than a decade in office.
Netanyahu believes that outside pressure could force the Palestinians into abandoning their traditional demands for a state in all of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem — lands Israel captured in 1967. The Palestinians have condemned the Arab outreach to Israel as a betrayal of their cause.
After trumpeting the new deals with the UAE and Bahrain, Netanyahu would welcome another diplomatic breakthrough at a time when his popularity has plunged at home due to his handling of the coronavirus crisis and the damage it has caused to the Israeli economy.
Background Source AP
https://theexchange.africa/countries/uganda/prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-tours-uganda/
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