Trump: Israel and Sudan will normalize diplomatic relations

The announcement was made by Donald Trump. He said "five more countries" will take the same step. They may include Saudi Arabia. Kharotum has been removed from the list of countries that support terrorism and this will facilitate foreign investments. Hamas decries "a political sin" to the exclusive benefit of Netanyahu.


Tel Aviv (AsiaNews) - Israel and Sudan have agreed to normalize their diplomatic relations. The move was announced yesterday by US President Donald Trump, with a three-way phone call, together with the premieres of the two countries, Benjamin Netanyahu and Abdallah Hamdok.

Hamdok said that "we must work to have diplomatic relations that best serve the interests of our people." Netanyahu said exultantly that "we are widening the circle of peace thanks to your leadership".

The first fruit "in favor of the Sudanese people" - and perhaps the thrust of these relations with Israel - is that the United States has decided to remove Sudan from the list of countries supporting terrorism, thus opening up the possibility of greater foreign investments. Sudan today suffers from an 146% inflation rate with very high unemployment and with a population on the verge of hunger.

Yesterday, Khartoum, for its part, paid $ 335 million into an account for the families and victims of the 1998 attacks at the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which caused at least 200 deaths. The attacks were the work of groups linked to Al Qaeda, whose leader, Osama Bin Laden, was residing in Sudan at the time.

The agreement with Khartoum comes after the similar decision taken by the Emirates and Bahrain. Together with Egypt and Jordan, they are the only Arab (and Muslim majority) countries to have relations with Israel.

Trump has announced that in the near future there will be "five more" Arab countries to take the step. It is thought that Saudi Arabia could also be among these.

Sudan has always been an opponent of Israel since 1948. In 1967, in Khartoum, the Arab League signed the declaration of the "three no": no to peace with Israel, no recognition, no negotiations.

Sudanese politics changed after the overthrow of the Islamist regime of Omar al Bashir last year, replaced by a half-civil, half-military government, which immediately wanted to collaborate with the United States.

The Palestinian world, whose cause was the reason for the Arab enmity towards Israel, is feeling increasingly abandoned. Yesterday in Gaza, Hamas immediately denounced: "the political sin that harms the Palestinian people and their just cause, which also harms the national interest of Sudan .. and only benefits Netanyahu".