Mixed Reactions to Israel-Sudan Normalization Plans

United States President Donald Trump’s Friday night announcement of a pending deal to normalize relations between Israel and Sudan has sparked varied reactions in the region. In Israel, government officials across the political spectrum welcomed the news, while some right-wing politicians on Saturday promised the new pact would enable Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to make good on his promise and return the approximately 6,000 Sudanese asylum seekers currently residing in Israel. In Khartoum, meanwhile, several prominent parliamentary figures, including former prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi, slammed the news of normalization. Al-Mahdi, who still heads the nation’s largest political party, warned the move “contradicts the Sudanese national law” and would “ignit[e] … a new war.” Several other political parties rejected the deal as well, claiming the transitional government currently in place had no legal powers to make such a decision.