Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok welcomed on Wednesday the announcement of a meeting between Chairperson of Sudanese Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, saying decisions related to Sudan’s foreign affairs must be made by the Cabinet.
In a statement, Hamdok welcomed Burhan’s statement about the meeting with Netanyahu, expressing his commitment to move towards the goals of the state’s transitional period and to overcome all its challenges.
Burhan broke the silence confirming on Tuesday the meeting with Netanyahu in Uganda.
Speaking in a press conference, he said that the meeting was “part of my responsibility to protect the national security of Sudan and achieve the supreme interests of the Sudanese people.”
Commenting on the statement, Hamdok said that the “constitutional declaration remains the legal framework for this transition and we must abide by what it outlines, and in this setting, it states that decisions related to Sudan’s foreign affairs must be made by the Council of Ministers.”
Burhan’s announcement was Sudan’s first official confirmation about Monday’s meeting, which was only made public when Israel’s Netanyahu claimed on Twitter that the two sides had reached an agreement to normalise relations. This was widely covered by Israeli media, but Sudanese outlets remain quiet.
Meanwhile, Sudan’s Sovereign Council said it was not notified about the meeting ahead of time, explaining that the council received that information through media outlets, and the council was not consulted over the meeting
Netanyahu’s claims of normalising relations with Sudan was denied later by Burhan, saying that “examining and developing relations between Sudan and Israel is the responsibility of the concerned institutions, as according to Sudan’s constitutional declaration.”
He also said that Sudan’s position towards the Palestinian issue did not change, adding that it “is and will remain firm, in keeping with Arab consensus and Arab League resolutions.” However, Sudanese responded angrily to the news, with protesters gathering outside the government headquarters in Khartoum to denounce the Sudanese-Israeli meeting and normalising ties with Israel.
Similarly, the Forces for Freedom and Change alliance, accused Burhan of making “a major breach” of the country’s constitutional declaration, while the Sudanese Journalists’ Union said the meeting marked “a black day” for Sudan and was “the deepest stab in the back and heart of the Sudanese people, who have always been supportive of the Palestinian cause.”
