Middle East
The Trump administration has “isolated Iran ... recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital ... Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights [and] extended ... cooperations to Judea and Samaria,” says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said the Palestinians “have been indulged by the Arab world, by the European Union. People have made excuses for their malign activity for generations.”
Israeli Professional Football League and UAE Pro League sign MOU to include matches between the teams of each country.
The warm relationship developing between Israel, UAE and Bahrain has led to a rise in the number of businesspeople in the Gulf learning Hebrew online.
Digital conference: Gulf Arabs emphasize rapprochement with Israel, disappointment with Palestinians
Kohelet Policy Forum chairman Moshe Koppel said, “After the colossal failures of trying to strike peace through unilateral concessions, we have changed course. The conference seeks to present a new approach with all it implies. Advancing the new Middle East runs through cooperation—not capitulation.”
Those opposed to the U.S.-brokered deal reiterated the “Three Nos” of the Arab League’s 1967 Khartoum Resolution: “No recognition of Israel, no peace with Israel and no negotiations with Israel.”
Until Friday’s announcement that Sudan had joined the peace effort, the Abraham Accords was the only treaty reached between the Jewish state and a Muslim-majority country since the 1994 deal with Jordan.
“Through decades of support and deepening ties, America and Israel have demonstrated that the security and viability of the Jewish state is not up for debate, and those seeking peace and prosperity benefit from a relationship with Israel,” said AIPAC.
A joint statement agreed “to end the state of belligerence between their nations.”
The two-page document states that “Arabs and Jews are both Semitic peoples that are threatened by hatred or intolerance toward Semitic peoples,” and that “all peoples of the Middle East should aspire to coexist in tolerance and mutual respect.”
Nabil Qaouk and Hassan Al-Baghdadi “are members of Hezbollah’s Central Council,” while Iraj Masjedi serves as Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq.
Some Arab Knesset members quietly support Israel’s new agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, but were forced to vote against them and follow the Joint List leadership.
