First Israel delegation to visit Sudan to finalize normalization

An Israeli delegation will visit Sudan in the coming days to finalize normalization between the two countries, according to the office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Sudan and Israel announced Friday they would normalize relations, marking Israel’s third peace agreement with an Arab country in six weeks.

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US President Donald Trump held a three-way phone call with the leaders of Sudan and Israel to announce the deal.

Netanyahu thanked Trump on Sunday, as well as Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Chairman of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council Abd al-Fattah al-Burhan for their “historic decisions.”

Arab Gulf countries the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain officially normalized relations with Israel at a signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords at the White House on September 15.

Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump, Bahrain’s FM Abdullatif Al Zayani and UAE FM Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan wave from the White House balcony, Sept. 15, 2020. (Reuters)

The agreements “will serve as the foundation for a comprehensive peace across the entire region,” Trump said at the time.

The UAE and Bahrain are the third and fourth Arab states to normalize ties with Israel. Israel signed peace treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan and his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi greet as they visit the Holocaust memorial together with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas prior to their historic meeting in Berlin, Germany October 6, 2020. (Reuters)

Last week the first official Israeli delegation to Bahrain visited Manama and the first official Emirati delegation to Israel visited Tel Aviv. US officials attended both visits.

Bahrain and Israel established full diplomatic ties during a signing ceremony that included seven Memorandums of Understandings (MoUs) in various fields including trade and security.

The UAE delegation to Israel was received by Netanyahu, who opened the trilateral ceremony, which included the signing of four Israel-UAE agreements regarding the promotion and protection of investments, science and innovation, aviation, and visa exemptions.

Etihad Airways crew on the airline's first passenger plane from the UAE to Israel. (Twitter/Etihad)

In his opening speech, Netanyahu said that the officials are “making history in a way that will stand for generations.”

“Jews and Arabs are the descendants of one common ancestor: Abraham…in his spirit we wish to foster a Middle East of coexistence and cooperation,” he added.

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