Sudan Said to Be Disappointed With Results of Normalization With Israel
by Benjamin Kerstein
Sudan is disappointed with the results of its normalization deal with Israel, sources told Israeli public broadcaster Kan on Wednesday.
Israel and Sudan officially normalized relations on Oct. 23, 2020, following up on the decision by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to sign the Abraham Accords the month before.
However, senior officials in Khartoum told Kan that since relations with Israel were normalized, promised investment in agriculture and technology has not materialized.
This in turn has made the normalization deal difficult to sell politically. There was substantial disagreement over the deal within the Sudanese government, which was overcome partially by the promised economic incentives that have yet to be delivered.
Moreover, a lack of progress on the economic front makes normalization a great deal more difficult to sell to the general public.
Besides the economic incentives, the US promised to remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, a promise that was fulfilled last December.
In April of this year, as part of the normalization process, Sudan decided to repeal a longstanding law mandating a boycott of Israel.