Trump Mediates Normalization of Israel-Sudan Relations

Achievements in Middle East Peace Ahead of the Presidential Election

President Trump is on the phone with the leaders of Sudan and Israel as cabinet members applaud.
[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The White House announced that Israel and Sudan, an Arab country in Africa, have agreed to normalize relations through mediation by U.S. President Donald Trump.

On the 23rd (local time), the White House released a statement announcing that Israel and Sudan have agreed to normalize relations through mediation by U.S. President Donald Trump.

In this regard, President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok held a phone call that morning.

With this, Sudan became the fifth Islamic Arab country to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. Egypt established relations with Israel in 1979, Jordan in 1994, and recently, through U.S. mediation, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain agreed to normalize relations.

President Trump expressed his intention to remove Sudan from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, offering Sudan an incentive to establish diplomatic ties with Israel. Sudan had been on the U.S. terrorism sponsor list due to reasons including providing shelter to Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, which caused significant difficulties in attracting foreign investment and conducting financial transactions.

After dictator Omar al-Bashir was ousted by the military, the transitional government of Sudan has hoped to be removed from the U.S. terrorism sponsor list to aid economic recovery.

The announcement of normalization between Sudan and Israel came 11 days before the U.S. presidential election, interpreted as an effort to showcase diplomatic achievements ahead of the election.

Meanwhile, on the same day, the Israeli government stated that it does not oppose selling weapons to the UAE.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz said in a statement, "Israel will not oppose the sale of weapons to the UAE."

Although Netanyahu and Gantz did not specify the weapons, it is believed they were referring to the U.S. advanced stealth fighter jet F-35. Israel had previously shown a negative stance toward selling F-35s to the UAE, but this appears to have changed.

Regarding this, President Trump also told reporters that day about the F-35 sales to the UAE, "It is currently underway."

The UAE has been actively pursuing the purchase of F-35s since signing an agreement to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel last month through U.S. mediation. Currently, Israel is the only country in the Middle East that possesses the F-35.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.