Lt.-Gen. Al-Sadiq Ismail, the personal envoy to Sudan's military ruler Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, made a secret visit to Tel Aviv last week to discuss normalization efforts with Israel, Sudanese news outlet Al-Rakoba reported on Tuesday morning.
The visit aimed to coordinate with Israeli officials on how to present al-Burhan in a positive light to the new US administration and to address growing tensions with the United Arab Emirates over al-Burhan and the Sudanese army in general.
According to the report, the envoy told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Al-Burhan wanted to finalize the normalization process between the two countries and arrange Sudan's inclusion in the Abraham Accords in return for Israeli support for Sudan.
Through his envoy, al-Burhan promised to meet any conditions Israel set in order to complete the agreement quickly.
The envoy explained that Sudan’s recent closer ties with Iran, which disturbed Israel, were a result of pressure and that Sudan’s army leader, al-Burhan, had no choice but to improve relations with Iran because Sudan has been isolated and facing a lot of pressure from other countries since the war started. In addition, he stated that Sudan urgently needed military support to win the civil war.
Burhan expressed his dissatisfaction with Israel
The ongoing Sudanese conflict, which began in April 2023, intensified due to rising tensions between competing military factions, especially between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The war has led to significant instability in Sudan and raised concerns internationally.
A source close to Sudan’s army commander said that Burhan shared his frustration with Israel about not receiving enough help during the two-year war. Since the war had started, he had hoped to get weapons from Israel to help defeat the Rapid Support Forces.
Burhan also said that Israel had no reason to be angry about Sudan’s recent move toward Iran because he turned to Iran only after not getting the military support he expected from Israel, despite their agreement to cooperate five years earlier.
The source added that Burhan assured Israel that he hoped to receive this assistance at a very important time, which would contribute to "achieving a real breakthrough in relations between the two countries and changing the opinion of many Sudanese toward Israel."