Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen said today that Israel and Sudan will finalize an agreement to normalize relations between them at a ceremony in Washington within the next three months.
"The draft peace agreement is making progress," Cohen told Israeli Ynet TV, referring to the normalization agreement with Khartoum.
There was no immediate comment from Sudanese officials or the US embassy in Israel.
The Israeli Minister of Intelligence headed an official delegation that visited Sudan last Monday to discuss moving forward with the normalization agreement. Cohen told Israeli television that during the visit, three plans related to the economy and border security were discussed. Cohen added that he provided his hosts with olive oil and fruits from the Holy Land, and obtained an M16 rifle. (M16) as a gift to bid him farewell.
The Israeli Ministry of Intelligence said in a statement yesterday, "The members of the delegation met with the head of state, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the Sudanese Minister of Defense Yassin Ibrahim, and they held talks on diplomatic, security and economic issues." Sudani and Cohen.
The Sudanese government had said that the agreement to normalize relations with Israel could not enter into force, except after it was approved by a transitional legislative council that had not yet been formed, and Sudan joined the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco last year in moving towards normalizing relations with Israel, and the new US administration said It wants to build on the recent normalization agreements.
Open the embassy
Minister Cohen refused to disclose whether the Israeli embassy will open soon in Khartoum, but he added that we are talking about a few more months, there is no specific date yet, and the Israeli minister told the Israel Hayom newspaper that the opening of the two embassies will likely be after the signing ceremony of the normalization agreement. in Washington.
"We arrived with fears and left Sudan with complete satisfaction, and the enemies have become friends," Cohen told the newspaper. "It is especially important that the Sudanese want their own initiative to promote normalization with Israel even after the change of government in the United States."
The Israeli newspaper said that Cohen and Lieutenant General Burhan agreed to establish intelligence and security cooperation in the near future, and a senior Israeli officer briefed the Sudanese Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Muhammad Othman al-Hussein, on operational tactics in defending the borders, and the Sudanese showed great interest in learning from the Israeli experience, according The Israeli newspaper.
On a related topic, Cohen told the newspaper that he discussed the issue of Sudanese infiltrators with officials in Khartoum, during the visit, and the newspaper said that among the main issues that Cohen raised with al-Burhan, the return of nearly 6 thousand illegal infiltrators to Sudan.