South Sudan will host an Israeli embassy, the Israeli Newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday. The President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, accepted an Israeli request to open an embassy in the world's newest country. The request was made by Dani Danon, a member of the Israeli Knesset, who is currently in South Sudan. Danon held a number of talks with officials in South Sudan. Kiir accepted an invitation to visit Israel. He said that leaders of Hamas asked him not to establish relations with Israel. He refused their demand, saying that South Sudan is not an Arab country, but added that there are many Arab countries like Egypt and Jordan that have strong ties with Israel. Danon asked South Sudan's foreign minister South Sudan vote against the international recognition of the Palestinian state. Israeli TV's Channel 2 highlighted statements of the South Sudanese speaker of Parliament that cited Israel as a model that could be implemented in his new state. Yedioth Ahronoth said that Israeli officials would meet a number of South Sudanese citizens that spent a period of time in Israel as refugees to discuss how to repatriate south Sudanese.
