PRESS RELEASE: American Jewish Congress Encourages Sudan Leaders to Take Up Israel’s Mediation Offer

New York, NY, April 26, 2023 – “The situation in Africa’s third largest country, Sudan, is a matter of concern for the United States and regional heavyweights Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates who are trying to broker a ceasefire. Israel has now offered to host the two warring generals to mediate permanent peace. Israeli officials are in contact for several days now with Sudan Army chief Gen. Abdul Fattah al-Burhan and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) head Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo — known as Hemedti. Contacts between Israeli officials and the two Sudanese generals have been direct and through messages. 
 
Israel Foreign Minister Elie Cohen cultivated a personal relationship with Gen. al-Burhan and Gen. Dagalo during his historic and groundbreaking visit [with U.S. consent] to capital Khartoum in February 2023. Minister Cohen made history, not only because an Israeli foreign minister visited a major Arab and Muslim nation, but also because Khartoum made a place for itself in Arab history as the namesake for the Khartoum Resolution—the famous 1967 Arab League resolution that instituted the slogan: No peace, no recognition, and no negotiation with Israel. Those “Three Nos” have now turned into Three Yesses.
 
The two generals are respectively the President and Deputy President of a Transitional Sovereign Council that rules Sudan since a coup in 2021. The Council is expected to transfer power to a civilian government, which in turn will sign a peace agreement with Israel in a ceremony that should take place in D.C.
 
There are indications that both al-Burhan and Hemedti are considering the Israeli proposal positively, best reflected in the words of FM Cohen: “The progress we have made with the two parties is very encouraging. If there will be a way that Israel could help in stopping the war and the violence in Sudan, we will be very happy to do it.”
 
Israel is uniquely positioned to try to influence the two warring generals. Cohen during the February visit discussed with al-Burhan and Hemedti “Israel’s desire to assist in Sudan’s development efforts” including “food security, water resources management, agriculture and more, according to a Government of Israel press release that also mentioned that Cohen “presented to his hosts an MFA aid program for Sudan, which will focus on projects and capacity building in the fields of humanitarian aid, water purification and public medicine.”
 
The American Jewish Congress calls upon Gen. al-Burhan, Gen. Dagalo, and the Transitional Sovereign Council to respond positively to the efforts of the United States, Egypt, KSA, and the UAE, and to take up Israel’s mediation offer that can open doors to stability and prosperity in Sudan for years to come.”

JACK ROSEN
President
American Jewish Congress