Israel establishes diplomatic ties with South Sudan

Israel establishes diplomatic ties with South Sudan

2011-07-28 23:41:16 GMT+7 (ICT)

JERUSALEM (BNO NEWS) -- Israel has established full diplomatic relations with the newly independent South Sudan, Israel's Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday.

"The practical aspects of the relations such as accrediting ambassadors will soon be discussed through the diplomatic channels," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, as reported by Haaretz newspaper.

South Sudan became the world's newest country when it broke away from Sudan on July 9 following decades of civil war that left millions dead. The new nation has since been formally accepted as a Member State of the United Nations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel's official recognition of South Sudan a week before the UN vote. "We wish it success," Netanyahu said. "It is a peace-seeking country and we would be happy to cooperate with it in order to ensure its development and prosperity."

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Eli Yishai called on Israel to immediately begin negotiations with South Sudan in order to return the thousands of Sudanese refugees and migrant workers who had crossed into Israel illegally in the past several years.

South Sudan's independence is the result of the January 2011 referendum held under the terms of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the decades-long civil war between the North and the South. The region's independence was approved by 98.83 percent of the voters, which was no surprise as surveys before the referendum had showed that nearly everyone would vote in favor for their own state.

More than two million people, most of them civilians who died due to starvation and drought, were killed during the Second Sudanese Civil War between 1983 and 2005.

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