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Trump Announces US-Brokered Israel-Sudan Normalization

Patsy Widakuswara

   U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday that Sudan and Israel had
   agreed to normalize relations, and he touted it as his foreign policy
   achievement in the Middle East ahead of the November 3 U.S.
   presidential election.

   "The State of Israel and the Republic of Sudan have agreed to make
   peace," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "This will be the
   third country where we're doing this, and we have many, many more
   coming."

   Sudan is the third Arab country in recent months to establish ties with
   Israel, after Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates signed the Abraham
   Accords in September.

   The White House released a statement saying that "in the coming weeks,
   the two countries will begin negotiations on cooperation agreements in
   agriculture, economy, trade, aviation, migration issues, and other
   areas of mutual benefit."

   During the announcement, Trump was joined on the phone by Israeli Prime
   Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and
   Sudanese Chairman of the Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

   Netanyahu hailed the announcement, calling it "another dramatic
   breakthrough for peace."

   While Trump insisted that the Palestinians would eventually join in
   recognizing Israel, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' office
   released a statement condemning "normalization of ties with the state
   of the Israeli occupation, which occupies the land of Palestine."

   Sudan and Palestinian cause

   Sudan was a longtime ally of the Palestinian cause under President Omar
   al-Bashir, who was toppled in 2019 after 30 years in power.

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