Hemeti and His Position on Israel: “Sudan Needs Israel” — An Earlier Call for Openness Returns to the Fore Amid a Broader Vision of Global Engagement Nyala – The New Republic An earlier statement by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemeti, advocating openness towards Israel and the pursuit of its technological and agricultural advances has resurfaced, coinciding with renewed debate over the foreign policy direction of Sudan’s Government of Peace and Unity. In the statement now circulating, Hemeti described Israel as an advanced country, observing that nations across the world, including major global powers, engage with it across a wide range of sectors. He emphasised Sudan’s need to benefit from Israel’s expertise and capabilities, stating candidly that Sudan needed Israel and that he saw no reason to conceal this conviction. The renewed circulation of the statement comes amid a broader debate over the future of Sudan’s foreign relations and the need to reassess the historical positions that have shaped its relationship with Israel since the 1960s, extending through the period of Islamist rule. Critics of that era argue that hostility towards Israel was instrumentalised as part of a political discourse that often served ideological interests at the expense of the broader interests of the Sudanese people. The significance of this debate extends beyond the question of relations with Israel. It also raises a fundamental question about the kind of foreign policy Sudan needs, and whether it can move beyond entrenched ideological alignments to place national interests, development, technology transfer and agricultural cooperation ahead of considerations that deliver little tangible benefit to ordinary Sudanese citizens. In this context, sources previously informed The New Republic of the existence of a diplomatic coordination office in Tel Aviv associated with the Government of Peace. International media reports have also addressed contacts between individuals linked to the leadership of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Israeli officials. The precise nature and official status of these contacts, however, must be carefully distinguished between what has been reported publicly and what has yet to be independently verified. Caught between the legacy of historical estrangement and the demands of a transformed political reality, Sudan faces a pressing question: Will Sudan move towards a more open foreign policy, grounded in mutual interests and technological and agricultural cooperation, or will its international relations remain hostage to the calculations of the past and the ideological conflicts that have long shaped its politics ⁉️