JERUSALEM, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he has talked with the leaders of Sudan and Chad, countries with which Israel has no bilateral ties until recently.
The remark was made at the start of the first weekly cabinet meeting of the new power-sharing government between Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, a week after the unity government was sworn-in in the parliament.
The meeting was held a few hours before the opening of the first hearing of Netanyahu's criminal trial over corruption charges at the Jerusalem District Court.
Netanyahu told the cabinet he had spoken with the leaders of Sudan and Chad over the past two days, and wished them happy Eid al-Fitr, a holiday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
He said he wishes the ties between the countries would "strengthen further," noting new diplomatic ties with "more Muslim countries" are "on the way."
Netanyahu and Sudan's leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met in Uganda in February and agreed to move toward the normalization of their relations.
In January 2019, during Netanyahu's visit to Chad, he and Chadian President Idriss Deby announced the resumption of diplomatic ties for the first time since 1972.
Forming new relations with Muslim countries is a key part of Netanyahu's foreign policy, according to which the Israelis can normalize ties with their Arab neighbors and the Muslim world without inking a peace deal with the Palestinians. Enditem
