Unlike peace with the United Arab Emirates, Israeli-Sudanese relations would have historic significance in the context of the Arab world's traditional hatred of Israel.
Not only is Sudan identified with the symbolic Khartoum Conference, which declared on Sept. 1 1967: "No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it," but until recently Sudan served as logistical backing for terrorist organizations in the Middle East. Hezbollah, Algerian groups, Hamas, the PLO, and even Al-Qaida were given training camps in Sudan, where there were also stockpiles of weapons.
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As far as Israel is concerned, these things pertain mostly to Hamas. Sudan was an ally of Iran, which shipped battleships and cargo ships to the Port of Sudan on the Red Sea. Convoys of Iranian weapons for Hamas set out from Sudan, crossed Egypt and Sinai, and eventually reached the Gaza Strip. So much for the wonders of peace with Egypt, under which Israel conceded the Sinai Peninsula, with all its oil and other natural resources – and of course uprooted all its settlements there and gave up its strategic hold of Sharm e-Sheikh.
Sudan cut off its alliance with Iran because of the war in Yemen. Normalized relations between Israel and Sudan, which apparently aren't yet ripe for full peace, represent a major strategic and regional change. The Middle East is undergoing what analysts are calling "expedited Balkanization." Countries are falling apart and threatening superpowers are sending their tentacles in every direction.
Usually, it would be enough to note that Sudan has gone over to the side of Saudi Arabia in the Middle East struggle against Iran. But the situation is serious, and Iran isn't the entire story. The Red Sea really is turning red. The strategic battle for it is red hot. Control of the Sudanese side of the sea improves the positions of both Israel and the US. China and Turkey are also sticking their noses into the region, and foreign news reports quoted the head of the Mossad saying that he saw Turkey as a bigger threat in the long term than Iran.
Sudan also served as a land corridor for weapons shipments to Libya, where Turkey is increasingly entrenching itself. We should mention that the first breakthrough to Muslim countries came with Sudan's neighbor, Chad, which also borders Libya.
This battle against terrorist imperialism and China's spreading influence is being answered by the Arab axis siding with Israel, with US backing. But on the other side, Europe is still afflicted with its historic sickness of "pacification." France, Germany, and all the rest refused to join the US in its attempt to renew the weapons embargo on Iran. The possibility that Joe Biden could be elected president could weaken the stance the Middle East is taking against Turkish, Iranian, and Russian aggression, as well as the creeping threat from China. Like in the past, demonstrations of friendship toward Israel are designed to strengthen ties to the US. It appears as if it's a little hard for Sudan, which for generations propagandized against Israel, to reach full normalization with the Jewish state.
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