Sudan becomes third Arab state to recognise Israel, Trump confirms

President Donald Trump has announced that Sudan will start to normalise ties with Israel, making it the third Arab state to do so as part of US-brokered deals in the run-up to Election Day.

The deal, which would deepen Sudan’s engagement with the West, follows President Trump’s conditional agreement this week to remove the North African nation from the list of state sponsors of terrorism if it pays compensation to American victims of terror attacks.

#BREAKING: President @realDonaldTrump has announced that Sudan and Israel have agreed to the normalization of relations— another major step toward building peace in the Middle East with another nation joining the Abraham Accords 🇸🇩 🇮🇱 🇺🇸

— Judd Deere 45 Archived (@JuddPDeere45) October 23, 2020

It also delivers a foreign policy achievement for President Trump just days before the US election and boosts his embattled ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Recently, the United States brokered diplomatic pacts between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Jordan recognised Israel in the 1990s.

Mr Netanyahu has made it a priority to forge ties with formerly hostile countries in Africa and the Arab world in the absence of any progress with the Palestinians during his more than decade in office.

The deal also is aimed at unifying Arab countries against their common adversary, Iran.