I wrote, a few days ago, that Israel endorsed Sudan’s military coup, and did so in direct contradiction to the stance of its strongest ally, the US. Pres. Biden announced after it happened that he was suspending $700-million in aid and that he was also postponing efforts to add Sudan to the Abraham Accords. The latter action is significant, because under Pres. Trump, the US had made normalizing relations with Sudan and ending crippling economic sanctions, dependent on the country joining the four other Arab states who have already done so.
Israeli sources have introduced the false claim that the government has remained neutral in the aftermath of the coup. But Israel HaYom showed this is far from the truth:
The country [Sudan] is not democratic as it was ruled for 30 years by the authoritarian regime of Omar al-Bashir. While we understand why the US would like to see the democratization of Sudan, between the two Sudanese leaders, it is Burhan who is more inclined to bolster ties with the US and Israel,” the official said.
The official further added that “in light of the fact that the military is the stronger force in the country, and since Burhan is its commander in chief, the events of Monday night increase the likelihood of stability in Sudan, which has critical importance in the region, and it increases the chances of stronger ties with the US, the West, and Israel in particular.”
I suggested too that the leaders of the junta likely received encouragement when they visited Israel two weeks before it was mounted. It stretches credulity to think the generals didn’t apprise their Israeli military and intelligence hosts of what they planned. We can also assume that the Israelis touted all of the benefits they could offer in the way of military hardware and commercial trade should the junta normalize relations with Israel. What general who’s just crushed a civilian democratic opposition wouldn’t love to get his hands on some shiny new toys to prove his manhood? Of course, the only way to achieve this objective would be for the Sudanese military to hold the line and refuse to concede defeat to the civilian opposition, which organized mass rallies in the streets against it.
An anonymous Israeli source rejected this view:
Israeli officials told Walla that while the sides discussed the political situation in Sudan and the stability of the civilian government during the Israel visit, the Sudanse [sic] did not offer any indication that they would be carrying out a coup and deposing the civilian-led government later that month.
I can smell an official Israeli lie a mile away and this one stinks to high heaven.
Now, Israeli journalists reveal that an Israeli delegation consisting of Mossad intelligence officials doubled down on Israel’s support by visiting Sudan this past week. What did they talk about? I can tell you what they didn’t talk about: the fabulous weather Khartoum has been enjoying lately. The official Israeli version explaining the purpose of the trip is this:
An Israeli delegation reportedly visited Sudan in recent days, meeting with military leaders involved in the recent coup in order to gain a better impression of the volatile situation in the north African country and how it might impact efforts to finalize an agreement to normalize diplomatic ties.
Again, this is nonsense. Israel is afraid that the generals will vacillate in their resolve in the face of strong civilian opposition. Israel doesn’t want a democratic Arab country on its flanks. It fears that such a popular government would be friendly to Islamist interests and once again serve as a transshipment point for Iranian arms to Hamas, as happened in the past. Israel believes that only Arab strongmen can hold the line against such a development. That is why it gravitates toward figures like Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Mohammed bin Salman and Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Not to mention, that it is far easier to buy off a few generals with the prospects of drones, tanks, and Israeli warplanes, than an entire democratic government.
Interestingly, Ynet claims (one not mentioned by other Israeli media outlets) that the Israelis met not only with Gen. Burhan, the coup leader, but also with Abdullah Hamdok, the ousted prime minister in the transitional government. If this is true, it’s hard to understand what Hamdok would gain from such a meeting. The Mossad would have no interest in supporting a civilian government. The only purpose for such a meeting for the Israelis would be to promise, persuade or cajole Hamdok to accept the coup; or to hold out some provisional promise that might tempt him to support it.
“It stretches credulity to think the generals didn’t apprise their Israeli military and intelligence hosts of what they planned.”
It stretches credulity to think the general consulted with Israel on their plans for a coup.
First, you presume that the generals of the Sudanese Defense Ministry, which had been part of the civilian government, are the same generals that carried out the coup.
Next, why tell Israel and unnecessarily assume the risk that the plot be exposed? Wouldn’t Israel be expected to share that intelligence with her ally, the United States?
Why does Israel, who had horrible relations with Sudan for 30 years, suddenly become a powerbroker?
I think the generals who carried out this coup are big boys who didn’t need anyone’s approval, least of all Israel’s, and shouldn’t be patronized.
And why is Israel the general’s first choice to buy weapons from? What happened to India, China, France, Russia and all the rest of the world’s arms dealers?
@ Ted: To be a good hasbarist your claims have to be at least marginally credible. Yours aren’t. So you’re not doing your job. Do better.
So the three countries most closely allied to the military (Saudi Arabia, UAE & Israel) wouldn’t hear from the generals before a coup? Countries on whom the military depend for armaments and funding to buy armaments and to pay their solidiers? Really?
Don’t be dumb, Ted. Of course they are. No one disputes they are. Do you dispute they are? If so, on what basis? And don’t make shit up, Ted. I want credible evidence to support any claims you make.
Yeah, because Israel’s spies are used to receiving secret information about military coups conducted by their allies and blabbing it all over the internet.
Did you even bother to read my post? The US and Israel are diametrically opposed to each other regarding the coup. So if Israel supports it and the US opposes it, Israel would blab to the US about it?
Because its leader during that period was Omar Bashir. He is gone. There are new kids on the block with whom Israel seeks to curry favor.
On the contrary, they are tin pot dictators totally dependent on outside support. The country is a shambles. The people have nothing. The military has slightly more than the rest of the populace. But slightly more than nothing isn’t very much.
Countries don’t have one source for weapons. They buy from whatever sources they can manage. But Israel will be eager to sell them weapons and other tools to suppress the popular uprising.
You are done in this thread.
why oh why you all ask, always remember my motto, ISRAEL MONEY POWER. , you must feed the hungry beast, a civilian gov. may not invest in israel arms whereas some military lunatic will in order to keep power. abraham accord with sudan, give me a break what does that mean to israel, zip, zero nada, with dubai and bahrain sure, again money talks.
bottom line israel allies are mostly based on money, its a perversion of cherchez la femme, in this case is cherchez la moola. from nso to morocco. same old same old, sigh
A few years ago I wrote America will be ousted from the Middle-East. The policy of the former president and Mike Pompeo has laid the foundation of a new military alliance with only nuclear power Israel at its heart. It’s acronym is ARABCON. Israel has been moved from EUCOM to CENTCOM. Washington DC has been unreliable and unwilling to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities, specifically in 2012 under president Obama. Israel, UAE and KSA have just one goal in mind to destroy or incapacitate Iran. Lebanon too is dying for intervention by NATO powers, read USA, UK and France.
’Real men want to go to Tehran’: Bush, pre-emption and the Iranian nuclear challenge
This doesn’t sound likely- but I am not an expert by any means on the topic. Its funny- Catholics are convinced that Pope Francis is Satan, liberal Americans are convinced Biden is a Fascist while conservative Americans think he is a Communist. I guess left is the new right, the future is the past, and bad is the new good. Humans are becoming caricature of themselves and nobody is reasonable anymore- even my dog is an extremist and probably a Mossad spy too. Every ideology tends to become a cult of personality over time, and most usually invert upon the values of the ideologies founders. How else would a religious group attempt the eradication of all of their pacifist Messiah’s extended family, after changing his name and message enough times for it to be completely alien of its origin? And then afterward, after failing to finish the job- claim the 2.5% of their nation that wasn’t in the group were the real culprits. Right. Totally believable. I suppose they can get away with this due to the fact that they are the world’s most popular ideology / religion, and will remain so until around 2070 – when they will be surpassed by the one other group that exceeds them in hypocrisy. It turns out that hypocrisy is the most powerful evolutionary strategy. It is the ‘shit floats’ principal of social systems. All humans (even the smart ones) are simultaneously brain-washers and brain-washed.
I’ll admit, though, that I could be wrong. Mostly just for the novelty of that idea.