SDE BOKER, Israel, March 28 – The top diplomats of the United States and four Arab countries met in Israel on Monday to show their unity against Iran, but also used the rare summit to urge their host to to revive long-stalled peacemaking with the Palestinians.
Concluding the two-day discussions at a desert retreat where its founding father David Ben-Gurion is buried, Israel said the event will be repeated and expanded as it builds trade and security ties with like-minded Sunni Arab states.
“This new architecture — the joint capabilities we are building — intimidates and deters our common enemies, first and foremost Iran and its proxies,” Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said along with his U.S., Emirates, Bahrani, and Moroccan counterparts Egypt.
Israel and some Arab countries fear a looming nuclear deal with Iran will give the Persian power the means to build a bomb and bolster Tehran-backed guerrillas.
The United States and other world powers see restoring a 2015 Iran nuclear deal as their best option. But US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered reassurances to Washington’s regional allies should diplomacy fail.
“As neighbors and, in the case of the United States, friends, we will also work together to address common security challenges and threats, including those from Iran and its proxies,” he said.
The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco normalized ties with Israel under a 2020 US initiative known as the Abraham Accords. Egypt became the first Arab country to make peace with Israel in 1979.
Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and United Arab Emirates’ Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan pose for a photo during the Negev Summit in Sde Boker, Israel March 28, 2022. Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS
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Welcoming the deals, Blinken added, “We must be clear that these regional peace deals are not a substitute for progress between Palestinians and Israelis.”
Like the Arab countries present, the United States wants a two-state solution in which the Palestinians would have their own state alongside Israel. Talks about this stalled in 2014. Israel has settled much of the occupied West Bank, while the Gaza Strip, another Palestinian territory, is ruled by hardline Islamists.
The all-party coalition government of nationalist Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has said the conditions are not right for a renewed diplomacy with the Palestinians — who in turn have put the blame on Israel.
“As long as the occupation doesn’t end, Arab normalization meetings are nothing but an illusion and a free reward for Israel,” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh told his cabinet on Monday.
Jordan’s King Abdullah arrived in Ramallah for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a first of its kind in years, which was expected to focus on efforts to ease regional tensions ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Israel was rocked on Sunday by a killing spree by two Arab citizens allied with Islamic State, killing two police officers. Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said his presence alongside the other Arab delegates at the Israel-hosted summit was “the best response to such attacks”.
Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani called the talks helpful in fending off Iran-backed groups like Hezbollah. “Of course, part of this process will be renewed efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” he added.
In another sign that the Allies are closing ranks against Iran, Israeli Ambassador to Manama Eitan Naeh said Monday that Israel would soon appoint a military attache to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain. Continue reading
Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Ali Sawfta in Ramallah; Writing by Dan Williams, Editing by Ed Osmond, William Maclean, Philippa Fletcher