Sudan, Israel's new friend in Africa?

Are we witnessing a historic reversal in relations between Israel and Sudan? The question has the merit of being asked after the statement by Benjamin Netanyahu on Twitter, Monday, February 3, where the Prime Minister evokes a “normalization” of relations between the two countries.

"I met in Entebbe (in Uganda) the president of the Sovereign Council of Sudan ... and we have agreed to initiate cooperation which will normalize relations between the two countries," he said on the occasion. The Sudanese government, on the other hand, was unresponsive about the interview, saying only to AFP through its spokesperson, " (have) been notified ”in advance of this interview, without further details.

"The Sudanese did not insist that the meeting between Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (the president of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, Editor's note) and Benjamin Netanyahu be disclosed, in any case that the photos of this meeting are published", explains Alhadji Bouba Nouhou, teacher-researcher at Bordeaux-Montaigne University, contacted by France 24.

The author of the book “Israel and Africa - An eventful relationship” (Karthala ed., 2003) specifies that there is no question, for the moment, of re-establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and the Sudan. “This is a sensitive issue: in the current context where the Americans are proposing a deal of the century (Donald Trump's“ peace plan ”for the Middle East, editor's note) which has been refused by the Arab League, be displayed with the Israeli Prime Minister would send a bad image within the Arab world. ”

“Create a breach in Arab solidarity with the Palestinian cause”

Champion of the defense of the Palestinian cause for decades, the Sudanese capital Khartoum had hosted in 1967 a summit of the Arab League where the “three nays” had been proclaimed: “No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiation with Israel ”.

More recently, Sudan has also been accused of harboring, logistically supporting and assisting numerous Islamist movements in armed struggle with Israel such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Israel, for its part, has developed over the past fifteen years active diplomacy in Africa. The Hebrew state maintains strong ties in East Africa with Uganda, Kenya or even more recently with Rwanda, where it opened an embassy in April 2019.

In this logic, the interests of Israel to resume dialogue with Sudan are multiple, according to Alhadji Bouba Nouhou: “It is to create a breach in Arab solidarity with regard to the Palestinian question, to have allies on whom counting on the very heart of the Arab world and gradually building relationships, which has also been done with Chad, a country neighboring Sudan ”.

The meeting between Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Benjamin Netanyahu was also not to the taste of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): "(It) is a stab in the back of the people Palestinian ", lambasted Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator and secretary general of the PLO on Monday, when he said" the administration of President Donald Trump and the Israeli Prime Minister are trying to destroy the Palestinian cause ".

Legislative in Israel, economic difficulties in Sudan

The rapprochement between Israel and Sudan can also be explained by the internal context facing the two states. Faced with internal difficulties, Benjamin Netanyahu plays the card of international relations when he must try to obtain a majority in the legislative elections - the third ballot in a year - on March 2, and he is also charged for corruption in three cases.

Sudan, meanwhile, has been looking for an opening for several years. Iran's main ally until early 2016, the country has officially moved closer to Saudi Arabia due to "gross abuse of international law" by Tehran. Unofficially, another explanation is put forward by Alhadji Bouba Nouhou: “Sudan, under pressure in the face of its economic difficulties, is trying to have an opening with Israel with the support of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (Arab countries which have more or less discreet diplomatic and commercial relations with Israel, editor's note) ”.

This opening also hides “a rapprochement” of Sudan with the United States. In 2017, Washington lifted part of the sanctions targeting the country while keeping it on the list of countries supporting terrorism. Khartoum would like to have it removed from this list in order to bring investors back to the country.

Renewing relations with Israel could be a prerequisite for a change in Washington's tone: on Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “thanked” the President of the Sovereign Council by telephone for his role in this “normalization of ties” and the invited to Washington for the first time in three decades.

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