Sudan signs Abraham Accords with U.S. to normalize relations with Israel

Sudan on Wednesday said it signed the "Abraham Accords" with the U.S., paving the way for the African country to normalize ties with Israel.

A statement from the office of Sudan's prime minister said Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdulbari signed the accord Wednesday with visiting U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The recent U.S.-negotiated deals between Arab countries and Israel have been a major foreign policy achievement by President Donald Trump's administration. The deals were named the "Abraham Accords" after the biblical patriarch revered by Muslims and Jews.

The signing came just over two months after Trump announced that Sudan would start to normalize ties with Israel.

Before Sudan, the Trump administration engineered diplomatic pacts late last year between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — the first since Jordan recognized Israel in the 1990s and Egypt in the 1970s. Morocco also established diplomatic ties with Israel.

The agreements are all with countries that are geographically distant from Israel and have played a minor role, if any, in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The accords have also contributed to the severe isolation and weakening of the Palestinians by eroding a longstanding Arab consensus that recognition of Israel should only be given in return for concessions in the peace process.

The normalization deals have drawn widespread condemnation from Palestinians, who say the accords ignore their rights and do not serve the Palestinian cause.
Earlier Wednesday, Sudan and the US signed a memorandum of understanding to clear $1 billion of Sudan's arrears to the World Bank. The signing came one month after Washington removed Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The move will enable Sudan to regain access to over $1 billion in annual financing from the World Bank for the first time in 27 years.