Israel and Sudan agree to sign peace treaty
General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhane, head of the Sudanese government, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Eli Cohen, agreed to establish a lasting peace between the two countries.
Sudan and Israel agreed on the “normalization” of their relations and a “peace treaty” on Thursday, during the Israeli foreign minister's first official visit to Khartoum.
During this historic political trip, in the words of Israeli diplomacy, the two countries agreed to move towards normalizing relations, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry said.
A peace treaty between Sudan and Israel will be signed after the transfer of power in Sudan to a civilian government to be established as part of the country's ongoing transition process, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, a return to Israel.
After the fall of dictator Omar Al-Bashir in 2019, civilians and soldiers shared power in Sudan until October 25, 2021, date when General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhane seized power after a coup.
The democratic transition has since been interrupted and political dialogue has stalled, and the crackdown by security forces has killed more than 120 activists opposed to the putsch.
M. Cohen met in the Sudanese capital with General Burhane, the country's de facto leader since the putsch, and the minister appointed by the latter as head of diplomacy, Ali Al-Sidiq.
In January 2021, Sudan had expressed its adherence to the Abraham Accords, by which three other Arab states recognized Israel, while civilians and soldiers still shared power in Sudan.
The country had thus broken with the inflexible position of Bashir, a great enemy of the Jewish state and long close to the Palestinian movement Hamas.
With these agreements, Khartoum, banned from the international community during a long embargo under Mr. Al-Bashir, had obtained financial assistance from the United States, a few weeks after its removal from the American list of States accused of financing terrorism.
Unlike the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, however, Sudan has so far not followed up the agreement with concrete steps to deepen ties with Israel.
And formal ratification by elected institutions has yet to take place, with the country in the midst of a political doldrums.
The putsch also caused the economic sinking of Sudan, the international community having then interrupted its aid of 2 billion dollars a year, a precious windfall for this country, one of the poorest in the world.
According to the Sudanese Sovereign Council, chaired by General Burhane, the latter and Mr. Cohen discussed ways to establish fruitful relations and possible projects of cooperation in fields as varied as security, agriculture , energy, health, water and education.
Israel will work after the signing [of the peace treaty, Ed] to help the Sudan's development efforts in agriculture, water, medicine, Cohen confirmed. Signing a peace agreement will serve both countries, it will strengthen Israel's national security, regional stability and help the economy.
“We are ending 75 years of hostility with Israel.
— Eli Cphen, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel
In October 2021, from his very first speech, a few hours after his coup , General Burhane assured that his country would remain bound by the international agreements he had signed.
In November, he sent a message of congratulations to the Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who had just won the legislative elections with his far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies.
Another African country, Chad, inaugurated an embassy in Israel on Thursday, four years after the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two states.
Benyamin Netanyahu, who participated in the inauguration of the embassy in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv , with Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, hailed a historic moment, according to his office.
