Israel sent its first delegation to Sudan to discuss potential economic and humanitarian cooperation on Monday after the countries announced a US-brokered agreement on October 23 to take steps toward establishing relations, a source said.
The talks focussed on how Israel might shore up Sudan's agriculture, food security, water supplies and healthcare, the source, who declined to be identified by name or nationality, told Reuters.
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The Israeli delegates, members of the National Security Council, also met separately with representatives of the US Embassy in Khartoum, the source said.
The Israeli delegation was headed by former Shin Bet agent "Maoz," who is slated to be appointed director-general of the Intelligence Ministry. He has spearheaded relations with Sudan over the past few years.
Israeli and Sudanese officials had no immediate comment; nor did the US Embassy in Jerusalem.
Behind the scenes, meanwhile, Defense Minister Benny Gantz refused to allow senior IDF officers to partake in the trip, contrary to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request, Channel 12 reported on Monday night.
Gantz reasoned that Sudan still has not been removed from the "blacklist" of countries that support terrorism. According to the defense minister, IDF officers should not partake in such a delegation because they could find themselves in an embarrassing or dangerous predicament in an emergency situation.
Interviewed by Israel's Army Radio last week, Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen said the initial delegation to Sudan would be followed within weeks by a larger "economic delegation" – raising the prospect of a possible signing of cooperation deals.
The source familiar with Monday's mission said those talks did not touch on the prospect of a more comprehensive peace treaty between Israel and Sudan.
Sudan followed the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in becoming the third Arab government to engage Israel with the encouragement of Washington, which sees such contacts as helping to isolate Iran.
But the military and civilian echelons of the transitional Sudanese government have been divided over how quickly and how far to go towards normalizing relations with Israel.
The Israelis' Sudanese interlocutors on Monday included "a range of figures" from the Khartoum leadership, the source said.
A group of Israeli and US envoys flew to Khartoum on Oct. 21 to finalize the terms of the normalization announcement made by the countries' leaders and US President Donald Trump two days later.
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