JERUSALEM - Israel has established diplomatic ties with the new nation of South Sudan.
Israel's foreign ministry on Thursday said the two countries will have "ambassadorial level" relations.
South Sudan became the 193rd member of the United Nations earlier this month. It achieved independence after a referendum that resulted from a 2005 peace agreement, which ended decades of civil war with the Arab-dominated north.
Israel has no ties with Sudan but has been flooded in recent years by thousands of Sudanese refugees fleeing the south.
Israel is a magnet for asylum seekers and migrants desperate for jobs. Many find their way to the impoverished southern neighbourhoods of Tel Aviv. The area has so many migrants that Israelis have dubbed it "little Africa."
