Abbas on a 2016 visit to Sudan. Photo: Ashraf Shazley/AFP via Getty Images
The Palestinian Authority today condemned Sudan's decision to begin normalizing ties with Israel as “another stab in the back."
Why it matters: This is another blow to the Palestinian leadership — the third such announcement from an Arab country in two months despite Palestinian objections.
What they're saying:
- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s office issued a statement rejecting the Israel-Sudan deal and stressing that it contradicts the positions of the Arab League and the Arab Peace Initiative.
- “No one has the right to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people and cause. The path to a comprehensive and just peace must lead to an end to the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine," his statement said.
The big picture: After the announcements by the UAE and Bahrain on diplomatic normalization with Israel, the Palestinians issued condemnations and pulled their ambassadors from Abu Dhabi and Manama. But those steps didn’t deter Sudan.