Bridge to Trump: "New" Sudan has realized that the road to the US is passing through Israel

When its economy is disbanded, the state's new leadership is desperate for a change in relations with Washington. This, after moving away from Tehran in recent years and the overthrow of tyrant Omar al-Bashir. It is difficult to know what will produce the ambiguous normalization agreement, but for Israel - any relations with another Arab state are significant

Bridge to Trump: "New" Sudan has realized that the road to the US is passing through Israel

There was much symbolism in the secret meeting - at least in Israel - between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the leader of Sudan's Provisional Council, General Al-Burhan.

It was held in Entebbe, Uganda, with nothing to say about its importance in Israeli history and Netanyahu's private history; She met with a leader of the state that hosted the famous Khartoum Conference of 1967, after the Six-Day War, in which Arab states agreed on the "three loans" that denied all recognition in Israel, and must certainly negotiate with it; And it took place less than a week after the presentation of the "century deal," which was officially rejected by the Arab League for its bias in favor of Israel vis-à-vis the Palestinians, but in practice the official responses of most Arab states were moderate and open to discussion of the peace plan.

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Received an invitation from Pompeo. Al-Burhan, last August (Photo: Reuters)

Sudan leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on August 17, 2019 (Photo: Reuters)

It is difficult to know what will eventually produce the same vague normalization agreement between the two countries, but the very meeting is a significant event for them. Sudan, under the temporary military-civilian regime that emerged after the overthrow of tyrant Omar al-Bashir, is desperate to emerge from the United States terror list, which was introduced when al-Bashir hosted al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden in the 1990s. Its economy is decomposed, and it remains a leper state in terms of its ability to do business with it and to provide financial assistance to international bodies.

In recent months, there has been an uproar between Khartoum and Washington, including the announcement of the first ambassador's replacement in 23 years and a visit by Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok to Washington. The Khartoum sovereign council just announced yesterday, in a now-clear schedule, an expected departure of Al-Burhan to the United States after an invitation from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In the official statement on Netanyahu's visit, he said that he believed that Sudan was "moving in a new and positive direction" and that he expressed his view to Pompeo. And in essence: Sudan believes that relations with Israel, at one level or another, will help it with Trump's sympathetic administration. Al-Bashir himself said in January last year, while trying to suppress popular protests against him, that unknown elements "suggested" to him to approach Israel.

New country

In recent years, al-Bashir has moved away from his 30-year regime from Tehran, with the escalation of tensions between him and Saudi Arabia, and has even sent troops fighting for the Arab coalition in Yemen against pro-Iranian Houthi rebels. However, it was eventually abandoned by the Gulf states, perhaps due to its proximity to Turkey and Qatar, the rivalry itself of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt. The military council - which also includes Genjweed militia commander Mohammed Hamdan Deklu, who is in fact considered the strongest man in Sudan and effectively commanded the genocide in Darfur - needed international legitimacy after the coup, and Riyadh and Abu Dhabi called on Washington to lift sanctions on Sudan.

Personal historical symbolism. Netanyahu with Uganda president today (Photo: Haim Zach, GPO)

PM Benjamin Netanyahu in Joint Statements with Ugandan President Yuvi Mosvani February 3, 2020 (Photo: Haim Zach / GPO, official website)

For Israel, any relations with another Arab or Muslim state are significant, as part of what they described in the Netanyahu bureau as "a general trend of Muslim, Arab and African states that want close proximity to Israel," following the resumption of last year's relationship with Chad, Sudan's neighbor.

Khartoum should make friends with Washington. Trump (Photo: Reuters)

US President Donald Trump at an election rally at Drake University in Iowa on January 30, 2020 (Photo: Reuters)

This is all the more true when it comes to a country of great regional importance such as Sudan, which served as a route for smuggling Iranian weapons into the Gaza Strip and even established such a weapons factory. The same targets, according to foreign reports, were attacked by Israel. In addition, the possibility that flights from Israel could pass through Sudan and shorten flight times to South America, along with the possibility of refugee repatriation, are two policy developments Netanyahu will be happy to reap during the election period.

If diplomatic relations are indeed established with Sudan, this may change Israel's expulsion and infiltration policy. There are estimated to be several thousand illegal Sudanese in Israel, which has so far avoided deporting foreign workers to Sudan because there was no diplomatic relationship with Khartoum. If the relationship is finally renewed, Israel will try to come to terms with the expulsion of some of the illegal aliens from the state.

The country is desperate to get out of the economic crisis. Demonstration in Sudan, last April (Photo: Reuters)

Sudan demonstration April 12, 2019 (Photo: Reuters)

The current Sudanese leadership is trying to portray itself as a "new" state. Former regime officials, headed by Al-Bashir, have been jailed and on trial, authorities have also promised to punish those responsible for killing dozens of protesters during the protests and to establish democracy at the end of the three-year transition period, which will be fraught with challenges and potholes. Many in Sudan and outside question the willingness of senior military officials to give way to civilian rulers, and they may be planning a similar move to Abdel Fattah al-Sissi in neighboring Egypt. In any case, to succeed in this era, Khartoum has to make friends with Washington and she has realized that the bridge there is also passing through Jerusalem.

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