Israel-Sudan
Israel-SudaniStock

After months of efforts and contacts with the United States, Sudan has decided on a full normalization of relations with Israel, the Israel Hayom newspaper reports, citing an official with knowledge of the matter.

According to the report, an official and public announcement of the decision is expected this coming weekend, likely after a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, chairman of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan.

During the day on Wednesday, as revealed by Haaretz journalist Avi Scharf, a direct and rare flight departed from Israel to Khartoum and then came back.

Israel Hayom has learned that a high-level Israeli delegation from the Mossad and the Prime Minister's Office was on board the flight. The senior Israeli representatives met in the Sudanese capital with their counterparts in the Transitional Government. At the conclusion of the talks, the final agreement on mutual recognition between Israel and Sudan was reached.

The report noted that on Wednesday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu again interrupted a meeting of the coronavirus cabinet for what he described as an "urgent national need." It appears that the interruption was, among other things, for the purpose of an update on the topic of Sudan.

The expected Sudanese declaration of recognition of Israel will join the historic agreements that have already been signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Wednesday report comes after Trump's announcement earlier this week that Sudan would be removed from the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism in exchange for paying compensation to families of American terror victims.

It is believed that Sudan’s de-listing may have been a precursor to its normalizing its relations with Israel.

Earlier on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he hoped Sudan will soon recognize Israel.

"We continue to work to make the case to every country to recognize Israel," Pompeo told reporters. "We are working diligently with them to make the case for why that's in the Sudanese government's best interest to make that sovereign decision. We hope that they'll do that, and we hope that they'll do that quickly.”

Last week, intelligence sources said that the United States had given the Sudanese leadership 24 hours to decide on a normalization agreement with Israel.

The Sudanese government was said to have convened last Thursday to decide on the issue, but no decision was reached.

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok said recently that normalizing ties with Israel was a "complicated" issue needing wide debate within society.