BIDEN TRIP LAUDS ISRAELI-SAUDI DEALS
IRAN ON THE BRINK
MIDEAST WEEK IN REVIEW - MAY 29
MOROCCO JOINS ABRAHAM ACCORDS
TRUMP ANNOUNCES ISRAEL-SUDAN PEACE DEAL
President Donald Trump speaks about a Sudan-Israel peace agreement in the Oval Office on October 23, 2020, in Washington, DC. He announced that Sudan will start to normalize ties with Israel. (Credit: Win McNamee, Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump announced a formalized peace accord between the State of Israel and the African nation of Sudan on Friday morning. The president published a copy of the joint statement on his Twitter account, the third such deal brokered by the Trump Administration between the Jewish State and a Muslim-majority Arab nation in less than three months, following the Gulf nations of UAE and Bahrain. The announcement of Sudan’s inclusion in the Abraham Accords has been highly anticipated for months, as the leadership of both nations have repeatedly signaled their interest. Trump also teased the probability of five other Arab nations joining the accord, naming Saudi Arabia. Many experts have also suggested that Morocco, Kuwait, Oman and Lebanon have unannounced talks underway with Israel.
The joint statement announced the end of “belligerence” between the two nations and the onset of diplomatic relations, outlining several priorities for economic and security cooperation, beginning with agriculture. Sudan is one of the poorest Arab nations in the world, and has been recently hard-hit in the capital of Khartoum by an unusually-high level of flooding over the banks of the Nile River. Egypt and Sudan have also been locked in an ongoing dispute with Ethiopia over the latter nation’s plans for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which could potentially be used to restrict the flow of the Nile River to the downstream nations, making agriculture a top initiative.
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Partner with FAI as we build on the edge of the growing eye of the storm in the Golan Heights. Our Legacy Center will stand as a bastion of solidarity with a Jewish Jerusalem as well as a beacon of refuge and hope for the surrounding nations.
Israeli-Sudanese peace is especially significant, considering the legacy of Anti-Zionism (and many would say Anti-Semitism) in Sudan’s recent history. It was in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum that the Arab League members met in the wake of the Six-Day War with Israel in 1967, adopting the so-called “Three No’s” of the Khartoum Resolution: “No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it.” Sudan’s previous strongman, Omar al-Bashir, was outspoken in his hatred for Israel, and cooperated with the radical Iranian regime against the Jewish State in the region. Bashir also provided safe haven to Osama Bin-Laden and al-Qaeda in the 1990’s, during which time the infamous terrorist organization bombed the American embassies in the nearby African nations of Kenya and Tanzania, killing more than 200 people. Bashir then initiated a campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing in the non-Arab region of Darfur during a conflict with separatists there, leading to the indictment of Bashir and many leaders in his regime in the International Criminal Court (ICC). Today, from the same city in which the Khartoum Resolution was passed 53 years earlier, the leader of Sudan’s transitional government joined President Trump for a conference call with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and reversed the “three no’s” into “three yes’s.”
Despite Sudan’s achievement, it is still reeling from decades of corruption, graft and civil war which became the impetus for a popular uprising in 2018. The mostly-peaceful protest movement, considered to be another wave of the Arab Spring, led to the ouster of Omar al-Bashir from power and the establishment of a caretaker government, led by Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan. The new government has worked hard bring Sudan out of the shadow of Omar al-Bashir, formalizing a peace agreement with rebel groups, agreeing to compensate the families of the 1998 embassy bombings, and now forging a new path of peace with an old enemy.
We are thankful for today’s announcement of another new peace initiative between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Although we know that very difficult times are ahead for the Jewish State and the region, we recognize the ultimate, divinely-ordained destiny for the Middle East will be one of peace between the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael, and we celebrate the Abraham Accords as a foretaste of that age. We would encourage our global family to continue to pray for the success of these ongoing peace talks, and for new doors to open for Good News as a result.
Maranatha.
URGENT: ISRAELIS INJURED IN ROCKET ATTACKS, IDF RESPONDS
BAHRAIN ANNOUNCES NORMALIZATION WITH ISRAEL
Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahrain's Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa (via news.sky.com)
US President Donald Trump released a joint statement on behalf of the United States, the State of Israel, and the Kingdom of Bahrain on Friday morning, announcing the normalization of diplomatic relations between the Jewish State and the Gulf kingdom. Bahrain became the second Arab state to normalize with Israel in 2020 after the United Arab Emirates inaugurated the so-called Abraham Accords last month. They follow Egypt’s peace agreement with Israel in 1979 and the Jordanian-Israeli agreement that followed the Oslo Accords in 1994.
The statement announced “full diplomatic relations” between Israel and Bahrain, including “direct dialogue” which was aimed at increasing “stability, security and prosperity” for the Mideast region, a signal that the bilateral ties will include political, economic and military dimensions. The statement also emphasized the importance of reaching a “just, comprehensive, and enduring resolution” to Israeli-Palestinian peace, as well as the rights of Muslims to access Islamic holy sites and worship freely.
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Partner with FAI as we build on the edge of the growing eye of the storm in the Golan Heights. Our Legacy Center will stand as a bastion of solidarity with a Jewish Jerusalem as well as a beacon of refuge and hope for the surrounding nations.
The Egyptian government hailed the announcement as an “important step,” while the UAE used similar language, calling the accord a “significant step” that would “expand the scope of economic, cultural, scientific, and diplomatic avenues of cooperation.” But not all Mideast leaders had praise for Bahrain. Iran described King Salman al-Khalifa and his government as “partners to the crimes of the Zionist regime as a constant threat to the security of the region and the world of Islam.” Likewise, the Islamist government of Turkey condemned the deal, claiming it would “further encourage Israel to continue illegitimate practices toward Palestine and its efforts to make the occupation of Palestinian lands permanent.” The Palestinian Authority released a counter-statement describing Israel-Bahrain normalization as a “stab in the back to the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people.” The PA reportedly withdrew its emissary from the Bahraini capital city of al-Manamah yesterday in the wake of the announcement.
As the divide between North and South grows wider and more defined in the Middle East, we recognize that the coming days will become increasingly polarized in a region that is already unstable and unpredictable. We encourage the global FAI family to continue in prayer and petition for the success of Arab-Israeli peace initiatives, divine restraint of malicious powers in the region, and a spirit of wisdom for regional leaders and the Trump administration, as more Arab nations are sure to follow the lead of the UAE and Bahrain in the coming weeks and months.
Maranatha.