Israeli minister makes first ever visit to Sudan

Rina Bassist

Jan 26, 2021

Sudan's Sovereign Council chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen met Jan. 25 in Khartoum, Sudan. Burhan (L) speaks at an economic conference in Khartoum on Sept. 26, 2020, while Cohen (R) stands after signing a free trade agreement with South Korea in Jerusalem on Aug. 21, 2019, when he was economy and industry minister. — ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP via Getty Images (L) / GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images (R)

Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen visited Sudan on Jan. 25, in the first Israeli public ministerial trip to the country. It was also the first Israeli ministerial visit to a Muslim country since the signing of the Abraham Accords with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in September and the announcement on normalization between Israel and Sudan in October.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed his Cabinet ministers not to visit the Emirates or Bahrain before he visits there first. Reportedly he plans to visit both countries mid-February. In contrast, Netanyahu has no plans to visit Sudan before the March elections.