President Trump Brokers A Peace Agreement Between Israel And Sudan
President Trump has brokered a peace agreement between Sudan and Israel – the third such agreement between Israel and an Arab-Muslim nation in less than three months.
Trump was Monday’s KVML “Newsmaker of the Day”. Here are his words:
PRESIDENT TRUMP:” …on the phone, we have some terrific people: Chairman Abdel al-Burhan and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok of Sudan — a beautiful part of the world; and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — I think you mostly know him. You perhaps heard of him somewhere. We have the very highly sophisticated press. I think they may have heard of him, of Israel. So I want to just congratulate all of you.
The State of Israel and the Republic of Sudan have agreed to make peace. This is for many, many years they’ve been at odds, to put it nicely, and to normalize their relations. This will be the third country where we’re doing this. And we have many, many more coming. We have — they’re coming at us hot and heavy.
In the coming weeks, they will meet to negotiate cooperation agreements. You saw that happen with UAE and Bahrain recently in agriculture, technology, aviation, migration, and other critical areas.
This historic deal comes just a few weeks after the groundbreaking agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. And Israel and the — and Bahrain. That was very historic. That was a great day, a very historic day — Bahrain and United Arab Emirates.
Three months ago, no one thought this would be possible. Even Bibi didn’t know if this was going to be possible. Bibi, right? But now multiple Arab countries across co- — continents have made peace with Israel. And again, we have many lined up. They want to come in. They want to get the deal done. They all see it.
No blood in the sand. I say, “No blood.” This is one where’s there’s been no blood in the sand. It was common sense. It should have been done this way a long time ago. It’s a very special deal.
For much of recent history, the people of Sudan were ruled over by brutal Islamic dictatorships. It was the home of Osama bin Laden — a place of terror, genocide, and many other tragedies.
Today, a great people of Sudan are in charge. New democracy is taking root, and the two people I have just mentioned are highly respected leaders — highly, highly respected leaders. The Sudanese transitional government has demonstrated its commitment to combatting terrorism, creating market economy, and developing the democratic institution that it’s becoming.
Today’s deal builds on those commitments and marks a pivotal turning point in Sudan’s history. This is, I would say, one of the great days in the history of Sudan.
This is an incredible deal for Israel and Sudan. For decades, Sudan has been at a state of war with Israel — they have been in a state of war — and boycotted Israeli goods. There was no relationship whatsoever.
Today’s peace agreement will enhance Israel’s security and end Sudan’s long isolation from the world because of what was taking place. It will unlock new opportunities for trade and commerce, education and research, and cooperation and friendship for both peoples.
I want to thank the leaders of Sudan. I want to thank you very much for being with us. And of course, Benjamin, for the incredible work you do constantly. We’ve had a tremendous relationship. There’s never been a relationship where Israel and the United States were so close. And I would say, a few years ago, there’s probably never been a time when it was so far apart, so distant — if you want to know the truth.
But this is a tremendous show of faith and courage and leadership which has forged this agreement. The United States stands with all of you and all the nations that seek peace and cooperation.
And again, we will be signing many nations over the next coming weeks and months, including some very big ones. It’s very exciting, actually. It’s peace in the Middle East without bloodshed.
And the Palestinians, by the way, if you ask about the Palestinians, they’re wanting to do something. They have never seen anything like this. They’re wanting to do something. I’m sure that will get done too.
So I’d like to congratulate everybody on the phone. And I don’t know if you have interpreters or if you needed the interpreters for that, but if you do, you can go forward, interpreters, if you need them.
PRIME MINISTER HAMDOK: Mr. President, I am (inaudible) to speak with you, President Trump, and Prime Minister Netanyahu. This (inaudible) is indeed an indication that — new chapter in our history of Sudan and the rest of the world has just begun.
I would like to start (inaudible) my thanks to President Trump for taking the (inaudible) Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism. This decision (inaudible) more important. It will help Sudan to (inaudible) as a nation that never sponsors the support of terrorism. We very much look forward to (inaudible) to establish a strong political and economic relation between our nations and the rest of the world.
Thank you, President Trump; thank you, Prime Minister Netanyahu, for the call and congratulations. (Inaudible.) Thank you so much.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much. That was beautifully stated and I appreciate it.
Bibi, would you like to say something?
PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Well, I want to say that we are extending the circle of peace so rapidly with your leadership, Mr. President, your able team. History in the making. Actually, we’re all making history — from the Emirates to Bahrain; now with Sudan and other countries that are in line.
I think this truly changes the region. It changes the lives of all our peoples for the better. It allows us to focus the task of building nations, building our future, building technology, agriculture, environment, and health — everything. And I think we can do it better together. And with your help, the help of the United States, the possibilities are infinite.
We used to say, in the Middle East, “The sky is the limit.” But now we don’t even have that because the skies are limitless. We fly over Sudan. We fly over Saudi Arabia. We fly to — to Bahrain. We fly to Emirates. Everybody flies to us. It’s just a new world, and I can’t tell you how — how excited we are for cooperating with everyone, cooperating with Sudan to build a future — a better future for both of us.
And it’s a glorious day for peace. I want to thank you again, Mr. President, for everything you are doing.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, even the media is very excited about it. I mean, everybody is excited about it. It’s an incredible thing. And again, as you know, Bibi, because you’re negotiating, talking to people, but they’re falling into line. Everybody is going to be involved in this very shortly. I would say — who knows? I can’t exactly put a date on it, but within a very few number of months, everybody is going to be in this deal.
And it’s the way it should have been done a long time ago. We did it the opposite way — exactly the opposite way. And we took a lot of abuse from the people that were unable to make a deal for 40 years. And this has gone very quickly, very nicely, very inexpensively, and with no blood. So we’re very happy about that.
Would anybody else like to say something and then I’ll have the press ask? Perhaps they may have a question for you.
Yeah, please go ahead, Prime Minister.
CHAIRMAN BURHAN: Yes, I think — I think the coming agreement will strengthen our relations and serve the interests of local and regional security of peace and stability.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: It’s the Prime Minister.
SECRETARY POMPEO: This is the Chairman, President.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: (Inaudible.)
CHAIRMAN BURHAN: (Inaudible) to what is said in this joint statement. Thank you, Mr. President Trump. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister Netanyahu. Mike, thank you for you have stood with us from the beginning (inaudible) this matter.
Thank you for you. And we — our good wishes to Mr. President Trump.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Wow. Thank you very much. Mike Pompeo, would you say something? Secretary of State.
SECRETARY POMPEO: Just this, Mr. President: This is a big day. I want to thank — thank Prime Minister Netan- — Prime Minister Netanyahu, Prime Minister Hamdok, Chairman al-Burhan, for their hard work over the past months to get to a place which will increase peace and prosperity throughout not only the Middle East, but in North Africa. And it’s a good thing for the whole world today, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: It certainly is. Jared Kushner?
MR. KUSHNER: Thank you, Mr. President. Well, I think that today is another great example of what is possible when you have strong and smart American leadership in the Middle East and throughout the world.
For those who follow the history of this conflict, the significance of this cannot be overstated enough. You have a situation in 1967, after the Six Day War, the Arab League met in Sudan and Khartoum. They had the — the declaration of what was became known as the — the Three No — the Three No’s for the Arab League: no peace, no recognition, no negotiations.
Now, today, we have peace. We have the Three Yeses under President Trump: We have peace, we have recognition, and we have negotiation for even more peace.
So this is a tremending [sic] — a tremendous acceleration of the turning point that President Trump has been able to accomplish in the region. And I do really believe that we’re seeing this pick up even more and more. We have more countries that are going to be making peace with Israel.
We’re very confident that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be resolved as well. And I do think that will allow us to focus on reducing extremism and terrorism, and then also reducing anti-Semitism throughout the world. And both of those cannot be understated enough as big accomplishments.
And I will just say, finally, that if you look at where Sudan was in 2016 versus where they are now, again, you have a President who’s not lecturing other countries. But for countries who want to improve their lot and make progress, there’s no better partner than America. And that’s what you’re seeing with Sudan and with the Middle East.
And I will just say as well that these peace agreements are not as easy as President Trump and his team are making them look. These are very hard agreements. These are conflicts that have gone on for decades, in many regards. And getting people to resolve these conflicts and focus on how you can create a brighter future is just a tremendous thing that makes America safer and the world a better place.
So thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: It’s very funny when Jared said that — it’s true. They’ve been going on for, you could say, centuries, in some cases, really. I mean, if you think about it, but they’ve been going on for many decades. And it’s just falling into place. It’s all falling. It was the right system, and all falling.
And Robert O’Brien?
AMBASSADOR O’BRIEN: Mr. President, thank you. And thank you to everyone here, all the members of your team that have been — worked so diligently — Jared and with the Secretary under — Secretary Mnuchin and Secretary Pompeo — under your direction.
What I said early on, when I — when I came to this job is that your legacy, Mr. President, as you left office, would be as that of a peacemaker, and I’d say —
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Nobody would have believed that. (Laughter.) Except you.
AMBASSADOR O’BRIEN: And I think it’s shown a tremendous amount of courage for you to put your political capital and put your leadership at risk. I think it also shows a tremendous amount of courage with the leaders who are on the phone, with the Prime Minister of Israel, the Prime Minister of Sudan, the Chairman, the Council in Sudan — King Hamad, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. It’s taken a tremendous amount of courage.
But it’s not just here, Mr. President. At your direction, Secretary Pompeo signed a peace agreement with the Taliban. And we haven’t had a combat death in Afghanistan since February.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, think of that: In Afghanistan, we have not had a combat death since February. It’s a long time ago. I mean, that’s something that is very nice. That’s got a beautiful ring to it.
Please.
AMBASSADOR O’BRIEN: And you brought normalization to Serbia and Kosovo, economic normalization. Kosovo is another Muslim majority nation that has recognized Israel and moved their capital to Jerusalem or — moved their embassy to Jerusalem.
So again, Mr. President, I think you and the team that you’ve put together has just done a tremendous job, bringing peace to the American — bringing peace to world which, in turn, brings peace to the American people and — and allows us to keep our sons and daughters who serve in uniform here at home and — and not out in the Middle East and other places, as you’ve talked about during your time in office, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you, Robert.
AMBASSADOR O’BRIEN: Thank you.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. Steve?
SECRETARY MNUCHIN: Mr. President, congratulations on another incredible achievement with this peace agreement between Sudan and Israel.
And I just returned from representing you in the region. I was in Abu Dhabi, Mr. President, representing you at the first-ever Abraham Accords Business Summit between Israel and UAE. And seeing the leaders of both those countries and the business people now interacting together and doing business was extraordinary. And also in Bahrain and seeing the region under your leadership, united against the terrorist acts from Iran and the — the issues in Iran, you have brought peace and stability to the region and security.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: It’s a much different place.
Brian Hook? Please.
MR. HOOK: Mr. President, the Arab-Israeli conflict is moving toward its end. And this is transformative diplomacy that has been led by the President. It started with two peace agreements in the Middle East, and now it has spread to Africa.
And the President has stood with Israel and countered Iran, and that has given space to our Arab partners to move closer to Israel. And so with three peace agreements, this is now the third defeat for Iran’s foreign policy, and it is another victory for America.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Had we not done what we did with Iran, this could never worked. That was a horrible deal. That was a horrible setback. Bibi and others were very much against it at the time, but that’s what the problem was. And it was not well done, not well executed. And that agreement is practically over. Had we let that agreement stay — it’s practically over — and that would have been a pathway to nuclear weapons and we’ll never let Iran have nuclear weapons.
Avi, just say a few words, please.
MR. BERKOWITZ: Thank you, Mr. President. Congratulations. I think it’s worth reiterating that these deals — the third Arab League country to recognize Israel — is only possible because of your leadership. This would not have happened if not for President Trump. And the possibilities are endless because of your leadership. And hopefully, more and more countries will join.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: So they’ve been working on this — how many years, Bibi? Peace. How many years have they been working, approximately?
PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: I’ve been talking about it for 25 years. But, Mr. President, it’s a fact that it was your involvement that accelerated everything.
When I met Chairman al-Burhan in Uganda, in Africa, eight months ago, I hoped we could reach this day. But it took your diplomacy, your team, and, frankly, the courage — the courage of the leaders of Sudan and their wisdom, their willingness to join all of us in this historic — historic — odyssey. I mean this — but this isn’t odyssey; an odyssey is a long journey. (Laughter.) This is a — this is like an express train — (laughter) — that is moving from one peace treaty to the other. And I think one reinforces the other.
And I’m very excited by a new future for Israel and Sudan. But I’m very excited also, for a new future for Israel and other countries — which you and I know, Mr. President — are willing to join us. So I think this — this is the beginning of something or the configuration of something very, very profound and big. It’s a change of history.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: And, Bibi, how does it feel flying those beautiful airliners right over the top of UAE — you never thought that was going to happen, right? — to save about two hours in flight time?
PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Well, people are flying in the open. I mean, they’re — they’re actually flying over what used to be, you know, unthinkable —
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Dangerous.
PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: — expanses of land that were —
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Basically.
PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: — basically a — you know, in a belligerent state with us. Now, they’re flying to Dubai. Israelis are flying to — they want to fly into Bahrain. Very soon, we’d like to fly to Sudan. We’d like to — to have joint entrepreneurs, joint ventures, tourism, everything.
And I think what — what was changing, Mr. President, under this vision of peace, is that it doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. It can be a win, win, win, win. I was going to say “win-win,” but there’s so many wins here that — (laughter) — that, you know, we should — we should continue. And that’s — that’s really, I think, the remarkable change that you have brought forward in this area.
I’ve been, frankly, believing it — but it would not happen with — for a long time, but it would not happen with such an active — I would say, positive and confident American position that just threw away the board and said, “We’re starting anew. The old thing didn’t work. This thing works. Let’s move.” And you did.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah.
PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: And we are all moving.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: So we have many countries, as you know, getting ready. And we also have — I’m sure you’ll see Saudi Arabia in there very soon. I really believe that will happen too. And very good relations with Saudi Arabia.
So you’ll see something very special. And this is already special, but we are going to be signing numerous countries in the not-too-distant future. So that will be great.
While you are on the phone, could I ask you how is the dam doing in Ethiopia? The largest dam in many, many years being built. Unfortunately, it stops water from flowing into the — the Nile, which causes Egypt a little bit of a problem. Right? As it should.
But Ethiopia built the dam. You know all about it probably, Bibi, but I’ve been dealing with Sudan on that. And I’m just curious, how is that going? Because you’re really the third party involved, with Ethiopia and Egypt, in the dam.
Are they working out their deal? Because I had a deal done for them, and then unfortunately, Ethiopia broke the deal, which they should not have done. That was a big mistake. And we’ve stopped payment to them of about — of a lot of aid because they did it. And they will never see that money unless they adhere to the agreement. But they built a dam, which stops water from flowing into the Nile. And you can’t blame Egypt for being a little bit upset. Right? How are they doing with that? Do you know?
PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Well, I think they need a lot of help to resolve it —
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, no — well, you — I was — actually talking to Sudan, Bibi. (Laughter.)
Talking to the Chairman, talking to the Prime Minister. How are you doing?
CHAIRMAN BURHAN: (Inaudible.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: May not want to answer that. (Laughter.)
PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Please, go ahead.
CHAIRMAN BURHAN: (Inaudible.) We do very much appreciate the effort that started with the Washington (inaudible), which in very few months, brought us together. I think that this is very (inaudible) we hope to reach a win-win situation that will bring a lot of benefits (inaudible). And we are moving in that direction. We hope you reach an amicable solution soon for this.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, if you would, because I had a deal done and then they broke the deal, and they can’t do that. They can’t do that.
So the deal was done, and it’s a very dangerous situation, because Egypt is not going to be able to live that way. And they’ll end up blowing up the dam. And I said it — and I say it loud and clear, “They’ll blow up that dam.” And they have to do something. So whatever you can do to get them, Ethiopia, to do that, they’re going to have to. Okay? And we’ve cut off all payment and everything else to Ethiopia.
It was terrible. We were all set to sign a deal. It was negotiated for five years and longer than that. And they couldn’t make the deal, and I got the deal done. And then they’re getting ready to sign the deal and they broke the deal, which is not good.
So whatever you could do, Prime Minister, if you could, that would be great. Okay? You tell them they got to get it done. And I’m telling Egypt the same thing, by the way, you know, because they could have stopped it. They should have stopped it long before it was started. I said, “How do you let it get built? And then you say, ‘They’ve — they have a dam.’” You know.
But they had other things on their mind. That was at time when they were having a minor revolution, to put it mildly. That was a bad time for Egypt, so I guess they had other things on their mind. So you’ll work on that, Sudan. And thank you very much.”
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