SDE BOKER: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the top diplomats of Israel and four Arab countries wrapped up a corner meeting on Monday covenanting to boost cooperation which, Israel said, would shoot a strong communication to its bow for Iran.
The addresses brought together for the first time on Israeli soil the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco — which all normalized ties with the Jewish state in 2020 — and of Egypt, a country formally at peace with Israel since 1979.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said that “ this new armature, the participated capabilities we’re erecting, intimidates and deters our common adversaries” — first and foremost Iran and its delegates. “ They clearly have a commodity to sweat,” he said about Iran, a country Israel is fighting in an indigenous shadow war and which it accuses of seeking a nuclear lemon, a thing the Islamic democracy denies pursuing.
UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan called the two-day gathering “ major” and said that “ what we’re trying to achieve then’s changing the narrative, creating a different future”.
The meeting’s Sunday opening, in the Sde Boker kibbutz in the Negev desert, was marred by a firing attack in northern Israel that killed two police officers.
Iran nuclear deal
The addresses on restoring the 2015 Iran nuclear deal were high on the docket at the Negev gathering and in Blinken’s meetings with Israeli officers.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief said at the weekend that an agreement with Iran to restore the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action could be reached “ in a matter of days”. That has raised concern in Israel and through much of the Middle East, where the numerous US- confederated Arab countries view Iran as imminent.
An Israeli functionary, speaking to AFP on condition of obscurity, said after the Sde Boker talks “ All countries then except the US have reservations about a nuclear deal with Iran and what happen is that we got them closer to our approach.”
Blinken on Sunday stressed that Israel and the US “ see eye-to-eye” on the core issue of stopping Iran from ever getting a nuclear lemon, despite their differences on the JCPOA.
The UAE and Bahrain formed ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords, brokered by former US chairman Donald Trump. Morocco also-established relations with Israel under a separate Trump-brokered agreement.
Israeli leaders have argued that the normalizations punctuate a changed Middle East, where Arab leaders are no longer impelled to insulate Israel over its unsolved conflict with the Palestinians.
The Abraham Accords rankled the Palestinians, who argued that they marked treason of a decades-old Arab League agreement.
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A small group of protesters outside the Negev venue sought to force the Palestinian issue into the room, signaling posters that said “ Haven’t you forgotten someone?”.
Antony Blinken — who departed Israel on Monday autumn for Morocco — has raised strong support for the Abraham Accords but advised that they can not replace the Israeli-Palestinian peace- structure.
“ We’ve to be clear that these indigenous peace agreements aren’t a cover for progress between Palestinians and Israelis,” said Blinken, who had on Sunday met Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in the Israeli-engaged West Bank.
Blinken has claimed that President Joe Biden’s administration is committed to repairing Palestinian relations, which collapsed under Trump.
