Prior to gaining independence in 1956, British-ruled Sudan had good relations with the Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine and later with the State of Israel. Khartoum did not take part in the 1948 war and in the early 1950s, prominent figures in its leadership maintained contacts with Israeli officials. After independence, however, as Sudan was swayed by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s extremist pan-Arab policy, Israel turned its sights to the mostly Christian South Sudan, whose pursuit of autonomy had triggered a bloody civil war even under British rule.

The beginning of practical relations between Israel and the south was in 1968, when Prime Minister Golda Meir agreed to send Mossad operatives to the region in an attempt to weaken Sudan’s support for Nasser’s pan-Arab policy, manifested inter alia in the September 1967 Khartoum Summit’s infamous “Three Nos”: No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel and no negotiations with Israel.

At her meeting with rebel leader Joseph Lagu, Meir said: “If you have a chance to reach a peace settlement with the north, we will not stand in your way.” Sure enough, Jaafar Numeiri’s rise to power in a military coup in 1969 set in motion a reconciliation process that three years later culminated in a peace treaty that preserved Sudan’s territorial integrity while acquiescing to the south’s demand for regional autonomy.