The US administration informed Israel that it is dissatisfied with the progress in relations with the Sudanese leadership and urged it not to normalize ties with the military-led government.
The leaked information followed news on the visit of a high-ranking delegation from Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council to Tel Aviv last week, during which talks focused on means to advance relations between the two countries.
The visit was slammed by the US State Department, which urged Israel not to proceed with normalization until a civilian-led government is restored in Sudan.
“We strongly encourage the State of Israel to join us and the broader international community in vocally pressing for Sudan’s military leaders to cede power to a credible, civilian-led transitional government,” a State Department spokesperson told Jewish Insider.
Israel has argued that backing off from these relations, which were initiated by the former US administration, may cause damage at the strategic level.
It affirmed it is currently managing these relations through the Mossad intelligence agency, especially that they have security ties not diplomatic ones.
Sudan moved toward normalizing ties with Israel in 2020, in a US-brokered deal.
In early 2021, Washington and Khartoum inked the “Abraham Accords,” bringing forward the normalization process.
The Sudanese military seized power on Oct. 25, ending a partnership with civilian political parties that began after the army toppled Omar al-Bashir as Sudan’s ruler in 2019.
White House officials have repeatedly called on Israel’s leaders to pressure the Sudanese army to end the coup and resume the transition to democracy.
The United States “will not resume currently paused assistance to the Sudanese government until a credible civilian government is in place,” the spokesperson said of promised financial and debt-related assistance, including “assistance originally committed to Sudan’s civilian-led transitional government in connection with its efforts to improve Sudan’s bilateral relationship with Israel.”
Lawmaker Eli Cohen of the opposition Likud party has reportedly held an urgent meeting with US ambassador to Israel Tom Nides to ask Washington to reconsider its position against head of Sudan's Sovereign Council Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
A source close to Cohen pointed to the strategic importance of ties between Khartoum and Tel Aviv, regardless of the Sudanese government’s identity.
