The Israeli foreign ministry announced on Thursday that an agreement between Israel and Sudan to normalise relations had been reached.
A signing ceremony is anticipated after Khartoum‘s military government cedes power to a civilian administration.
The agreement was reached, according to the foreign ministry of Sudan, to “move forward toward normalising relations between the two nations” during a visit by Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.
In a 2020 agreement mediated by the administration of then-U.S. President Donald Trump, along with normalisation agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco known as the “Abraham Accords,” Sudan promised to take steps toward diplomatic ties with Israel after decades of non-recognition.
Despite numerous official exchanges in recent years, Cohen’s trip to Khartoum marked the first by an Israeli official that the Sudanese government has recognised.
“During the visit, which was made with the consent of the United States, the parties finalised the text of the agreement,” an Israeli foreign ministry statement said.
“The signing ceremony is expected to take place after the transfer of power in Sudan to a civilian government that will be established as part of the ongoing transition process in the country,” it said.
“We definitely look forward to signing the agreement and then to having diplomatic representatives both in Israel and in Sudan,” Lior Haiat, spokesperson for the foreign ministry who took part in the delegation, told newsmen.
According to General Abdel Fattah al-office, Burhan’s Cohen and the head of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council spoke about enhancing bilateral ties in the areas of defense, agriculture, energy, water, health, and education.
The military in Sudan, which has been in command of the nation since a coup in October 2021 but claims it will transfer power to a civilian administration after ongoing negotiations, is thought to have spearheaded the effort to forge ties with Israel.
Civilian organisations have been less enthusiastic and have previously stated that any agreement needs be approved by a transitional parliament that has not yet been established.
General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Burhan’s deputy, reportedly claimed he was unaware of the visit and did not interact with the delegation, according to state news agency SUNA.
The Abraham Accords were reportedly signed in January 2021 during a visit by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, according to the Sudan.
That same year, Cohen visited Sudan, a country with a majority of Muslims, as intelligence minister.
Cohen stated that Israelis have long remembered Khartoum as the location where the Arab League issued its “Three No’s” declaration on Israel in 1967—no recognition, no peace, and no discussions. Cohen made this statement after arriving back in Israel later that day.
“We are (now) building a new reality with the Sudanese, in which the ‘Three No’s’ will become the ‘Three Yeses’,” he said. “Yes to negotiations between Israel and Sudan, yes to recognition of Israel and yes to peace between the states and between the peoples.”
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