On October 23, Israel and Sudan reached an agreement on the normalization of relations with the mediation of the United States. Sudan became the third Arab country to normalize relations with Israel in the past two months.
According to a Reuters report on October 23, Israel, Sudan and the United States issued a joint statement that day that the leaders of the three countries reached an agreement on normalizing relations between Sudan and Israel and ending the state of war. The statement also promised that the United States will help Sudan ensure international debt relief.
The joint statement also mentioned that the plan to normalize the relations between Israel and Sudan begins with the opening of economic and trade ties, first focusing on agriculture. A senior US official who asked not to be named said that issues such as the formal establishment of diplomatic relations will be resolved in a period of time.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu confirmed on October 23 that he would normalize relations with Sudan, calling this the beginning of a “new era.” US President Trump also told reporters that at least five other countries want to normalize relations with Israel.
On September 23, the Sudanese Sovereignty Council stated that it had held talks with the United States on how to advance the Arab-Israeli peace process in Sudan. The talks also involved removing Sudan from the list of countries sponsored by the United States that support terrorism. Sudan has been sanctioned by the United States for its hostilities and conflicts with Israel and has been included in the list of “countries supporting terrorism”.
The White House stated in a statement earlier on October 23 that the Sudanese Transitional Government had transferred US$335 million in compensation on the 22nd to third-party accounts opened for the victims and their families of US terrorism. Trump has officially notified Congress that he has decided to remove Sudan from the US list of “terrorist countries”.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the US government included Sudan in the list of “countries supporting terrorism” in 1993 and has imposed economic sanctions on Sudan since 1996. In October 2017, the United States announced the lifting of economic sanctions on Sudan, but it still included Sudan on the list of “countries supporting terrorism”. After the establishment of the Sudanese Transitional Government in 2019, it has been seeking to remove Sudan from the list of “country supporting terrorism” identified by the United States.
Media analysis believes that the successful mediation of the United States to normalize relations between Israel and Sudan marks another achievement of the Republican Party in foreign policy. It is very important for Trump, who is still behind the Democratic candidate Biden in polls.
According to Al Jazeera, Israel attaches great importance to the normalization of relations with Sudan. In Israel’s view, Sudan is an important docking point for Al-Qaida and Iran’s weapons, as well as a way to transport weapons to Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip and Libya.
Israeli analysts believe that, unlike the Gulf countries, the relationship between Israel and Sudan is not economically important, but the location of Sudan, whether it is along the Nile or the Red Sea, makes it the Middle East and Africa. Strategic assets on the territory.
Sudan is the third Arab country to normalize relations with Israel in the past two months. On September 15, Trump received Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah and Bahraini Foreign Minister Zayeni in Washington. Representatives of Israel, UAE, and Bahrain formally signed an agreement on normalization of relations at the White House. Prior to this, Israel had established diplomatic relations with Egypt and Jordan in 1980 and 1994 respectively.
