An Israeli official said Wednesday that Sudan is likely to be the next Muslim country to join the Abraham Accords with Israel. According to the official, negotiations between Jerusalem and Khartoum have been held in recent days and weeks. The official added that the United States has been mediating between the sides and that an agreement now seems possible.
Sudan announced in October 2020 that it was interested in joining the Abraham Accords and, three months later, it signed the declarative section of the agreement in the presence of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin but did not sign the corresponding document with Israel – unlike the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Following the military coup in Sudan in October 2021, Israeli officials made it clear that the chances of open diplomatic relations between the countries had diminished. Nonetheless, because of the good relations between the political-military leadership of Israel and senior members of the military junta in Sudan, there have been several reports since the coup about visits by Israeli delegations to Sudan – at the request of the United States – in an effort to resolve the political crisis.
In addition to contacts with Sudan, the official told Haaretz that Israel now hopes to enter into agreements with other countries, including Mauritania and Indonesia. “There are seven or eight Arab or Muslim countries who we could potentially add to the Abraham Accords,” the official said.
The Abraham Accords are a series of joint normalization statements initially between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, effective since September 15, 2020. Mediated by the United States, the initial announcement of August 13, 2020, concerned only Israel and the United Arab Emirates before the announcement of a follow-up agreement between Israel and Bahrain on September 11, 2020.
