Middle East
Transportation Minister Israel Katz departed Sunday evening for Oman, nine days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Gulf emirate.
Omani FM Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah: Israel is a part of the region; the Torah and the Israelite prophets emerged in the Middle East.
Oman began establishing preliminary ties with Israel following the Oslo peace process in the mid-1990s, which ended up being frozen during the Second Intifada. But now it needs Israeli help on the economic crisis there, which is worsening each year.
Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Oman’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, told a security forum in Bahrain that “Israel is a state present in the region, and we all understand this.”
In an Al-Jazeera TV interview following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Omani Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah was asked why the sultanate had hosted the Israeli leader.
It is the first trip made by an Israeli prime minister since Shimon Peres in 1996.
Israel’s Channel 10 news reported that the U.S. president will pressure the Israeli premier, if necessary, regarding the Mideast peace plan.
Iran expert Meir Javedanfar speculated that if President Donald Trump is re-elected and U.S. sanctions ratcheted up, then the regime would be pressed to negotiate with the Americans or risk real threats of domestic instability.
“Anyone who is saying that Erdoğan, AKP and Al Qaeda are enemies are making a huge mistake. They don’t like democracy, but they see that Erdoğan is the best way for them to reach their objectives,” said Ahmet Yayla, former chief of counterterrorism in Sanliurfa, near the Syrian border.
“Our peace plan intends to bring them together. Make no mistake; we are in this to help all Palestinians, in both the West Bank and Gaza,” said Jason Greenblatt, the Trump administration’s envoy to the Mideast.
Special Envoy for Middle East Affairs Jason Greenblatt tweets thanks to Democratic and Republican senators for meeting to discuss peace plan • “Deal of the century” expected to be unveiled in four months • Administration expects that “no one will be fully pleased.”
After identifying Iran as the “origin” of threats against Americans in Iraq, Pompeo explained, “Our intelligence in this regard is solid. We can see the hand of the Ayatollah and his henchmen supporting these attacks on the United States.”
