Only in the UAE: Israeli and Sudanese officials schmooze in Abu Dhabi

“At first a small group accepts the change, then more and more groups join in,” said Sudan’s justice minister.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Almost a year after the announcement that Sudan was joining the Abraham Accords, Sudan’s justice minister met with a number of top Israeli government officials in the United Arab Emirates.

On Wednesday, Israeli Minister of Regional Cooperation Esawi Frej set the Twitter world alight by posting a photo of himself alongside Nasredeen Abdulbari.

“‘Cooperation with Israel in the fields of education and culture is even more important to us than economic connections, we must get to know each other and strengthen the human ties between us,’ Sudan’s impressive justice minister, told me today in Abu Dhabi,” Frej wrote as a caption to the photo.

“We therefore agreed to work to promote joint projects in education and culture.”

Frej, who is an Israeli Arab, also posted the message in Arabic.

According to a statement from Frej’s office, Abdulbari said the Abraham Accords were a “correct and necessary step” for bringing peace to the region.

“At first a small group accepts the change, then more and more groups join in,” Abdulbari added.

Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Roll also met with Abdulbari, posting a Twitter photo shaking hands with him.

“Continuing to be part of the driving force of the #AbrahamAccords it was a pleasure meeting today with the Minister of Justice of #Sudan @nasabdulbari. We agreed on future cooperation between the two countries under the accords,” he wrote, adding emojis of the Israeli and Sudanese flags.

“Our goal is to join hands in technological training, in order to help young people of all sides to the accords to adapt to the changes in the labor market and give them more capabilities in which they can also engage remotely, as an integral part of the high-tech industry.”

The move towards normalization with the Jewish State drew ire from some Sudanese and the Hamas terror group, which had maintained a presence in the African nation for decades.

Some speculated that the U.S. had pressured Sudan to extend the olive branch in exchange for removing it from the American blacklist of terror-supporting countries.