Sudan on Friday became the latest Arab nation to agree to recognize Israel in a diplomatic triumph for US President Donald Trump announced days before US elections.
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain last month signed an accord at the White House to normalize relations with Israel, but Sudan carries added symbolism as an Arab nation that has been at war with Israel.
Trump announced the agreement by Sudan’s year-old, civilian-backed government moments after he formally moved to end the nation’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, achieving a major objective for Khartoum.
Photo: AFP
Reporters were escorted into the Oval Office where Trump was on speakerphone with Sudan’s leadership and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“This truly changes the region. It changes the lives of our peoples for the better and allows us to focus on the task of building our nations, building our future,” Netanyahu was heard telling Trump.
Trump said that more Arab states are also looking to recognize Israel, including regional power Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s two holiest cities.
“We have at least five more that want to come in and we’ll have many more than that soon,” Trump said in a room packed with visibly happy aides, few of them wearing masks despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Until last month, the only Arab nations to recognize Israel were Jordan and Egypt — neighbors of the Jewish state that had made peace after US mediation.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ office voiced “condemnation and rejection” of the deal between Sudan and the “Israeli occupation country which usurps Palestinian land.”
While Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have found common cause with Netanyahu and Trump against Iran, Sudan appears mostly driven by a desperate economic situation that has fueled new protests in the past few days.
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