Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen visited Sudan on Jan. 25, in the first Israeli public ministerial trip to the country. It was also the first Israeli ministerial visit to a Muslim country since the signing of the Abraham Accords with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in September and the announcement on normalization between Israel and Sudan in October.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed his Cabinet ministers not to visit the Emirates or Bahrain before he visits there first. Reportedly he plans to visit both countries mid-February. In contrast, Netanyahu has no plans to visit Sudan before the March elections.

Cohen arrived in Khartoum heading a delegation from his ministry and from the National Security Council. The delegation held talks with senior Sudanese officials, including the chairman of the Sovereignty Council, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and Sudanese Defense Minister Yassin Ibrahim. During the meeting with the latter, Cohen signed a memorandum of understanding on security-related issues.

According to an official announcement by Cohen’s ministry, the delegation discussed with Sudanese counterparts diplomatic, security and economic issues. It was noted that both sides spoke about the necessity of establishing regional security as a means of development and agreed to deepen intelligence cooperation. They also discussed the possibility of Israel joining the Red Sea Council, where Egypt and Saudi Arabia are also members.