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US allies welcome Israel-Sudan peace deal, Palestinians cry foul

WION Web Team
Washington, DC, United States of AmericaUpdated: Oct 24, 2020, 04:39 PM IST
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Photograph:(AFP)

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Iran, which has been a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and remains on the US blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, said Sudan had paid a "shameful" price to be removed from the "phony" blacklist.

Sudan and Israel have agreed to normalise relations in a US-brokered deal to end decades of hostility. This was on one hand, welcomed by the allies of the United States, but on the other, stirred Palestinian anger. 

The announcement makes Sudan the fifth Arab country to forge diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

Sudan has technically been at war with Israel since its 1948 foundation.

"HUGE win today for the United States and for peace in the world," tweeted US President Donald Trump, who faces a November 3 election in which he is trailing in the polls. 

"Sudan has agreed to a peace and normalisation agreement with Israel! With the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, that’s THREE Arab countries to have done so in only a matter of weeks. More will follow!"

Germany welcomed the deal as a boost to stability in the Middle East and paid tribute to the US role in brokering it.

"The US has played a crucial role in mediating these agreements, for which it deserves thanks and recognition," the foreign ministry said.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a close US ally whose country in 1979 became the first Arab state to make peace with Israel, hailed the agreement. 

The United Arab Emirates, which signed a normalisation deal with Israel in September, welcomed Sudan's decision to establish relations too as "historic".

"Sudan's decision to initiate relations with the state of Israel is an important step to enhance security, and prosperity in the region," the official WAM news agency said citing the foreign ministry. 

Bahrain, which followed the UAE in striking a normalisation deal with Israel, hailed the agreement between Sudan and Israel.

It underlined the kingdom's support for Sudan's efforts "to exercise an active and constructive role in the international community," a foreign ministry statement said. 

Palestinian leaders, however, strongly condemned the deal, echoing their rejection of Israel's normalisation accords with the UAE and Bahrain signed in Washington last month.  

"The State of Palestine expressed today its condemnation and rejection of the deal to normalise ties with the Israeli occupation country which usurps Palestinian land," president Mahmoud Abbas's office said in a statement.

"No one has the right to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause," it said.

The Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said the deal was a "political sin" that benefited only the Israeli premier.

"It benefits only (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu," it said in a statement.

Israel's agreements with Bahrain and the UAE broke with longstanding Arab policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and were condemned by the Palestinians as a "betrayal".

Iran, which has been a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and remains on the US blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, said Sudan had paid a "shameful" price to be removed from the "phony" blacklist.

"Pay enough ransom, close your eyes on the crimes against Palestinians, then you'll be taken off the so-called 'terrorism' blacklist. Obviously the list is as phony as the US fight against terrorism. Shameful!" its foreign ministry said.