United States godfathering Israel

Lately, the United States blocked a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have recognized a Palestinian state. Twelve members of the Security Council had voted in favor of the resolution, while two countries – the UK and Switzerland – abstained. The United States vetoed it.

The Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, sharply criticized the US veto, saying in a statement that it was unfair, immoral, and unjustified, and defies the will of the international community, which strongly supports the State of Palestine obtaining full membership in the United Nations.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz praised the US for vetoing what he called a shameful proposal.

US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel had announced earlier that the US would vote against the Security Council resolution, saying that the US has been very clear, consistently, that premature actions in New York, even with the best intentions, will not achieve statehood for the Palestinian people, referring to the headquarters of the United Nations.

He also noted there was no unanimity as to whether the Palestinians met the criteria for membership as a state in the UN, saying the US believes future statehood should be dependent on negotiations between Israel and representatives of the Palestinians.

“The most expeditious path towards statehood for the Palestinian people is through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority with the support of the United States and other partners who share this goal,” Patel said.

Palestinian attempts for recognition as a full member state began in 2011. They are currently a non-member observer state, a status that was granted in November 2012.

At the time, UN Ambassador of the Palestinian Territories Riyad Mansour called the step a historic moment, adding that he hoped the Security Council will elevate itself to implanting the global consensus on the two-state solution by admitting the state of Palestine for full membership.

Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan condemned Friday’s move as consideration of a Palestinian terror state.

“This won’t be a regular state. It will be a Palestine-Nazi state, an entity that achieved statehood despite being committed to terror and Israel’s annihilation,” Erdan added.

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed disappointment over the UN Security Council's failure to pass a draft resolution that would have granted full UN membership to the State of Palestine.

The ministry said this decision contributes to the ongoing challenges faced by the region, particularly by allowing the continuation of Israeli occupation forces' actions without repercussions.

The ministry emphasized that the obstruction of Palestine's full membership in the UN hinders peace efforts and allows violations of the international law to persist.

Saudi Arabia reiterated its call for the international community to take decisive actions to stop attacks on civilians in the Gaza Strip and to support the Palestinian right to self-determination and statehood. This state, according to Saudi Arabia, should be established within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, aligning with the parameters set forth by the Arab Peace Initiative and other relevant international resolutions.

 

Indonesian entry in OECD linked to normalizing ties with Israel

According to Reuters, Indonesia is under pressure to normalize ties with Israel to become the 39th member of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.

It’s a move that needs the consent of all OECD countries, including Israel, which has been a member state since 2010.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz objected to Indonesia’s inclusion unless it made a gesture toward Israel, such as normalization. The OECD made normalization with Israel part of Indonesia’s requirements for OECD membership.

It’s a step that comes as Israel has become increasingly isolated on the international stage due to the Gaza war, and it had been presumed that it was not possible to expand its diplomatic ties until the end of that half-a-year conflict.

Israel and Indonesia have long had silent relations in trade and tourism but have otherwise been diplomatic foes on the international stage.

Indonesia had been expected to be one of the countries that would normalize ties under the Abraham Accords, with the former Trump administration promising them a billion dollars to do so.

Plans for the two countries to normalize ties had proceeded under the Biden administration but were scuttled as a result of the Israel-Hamas war, which began on October 07, 2023.

They were revived this winter through the OECD membership process. Among the signs of a shift in their relationship was Israel’s decision to allow Indonesia to participate in the airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza, a step it had denied Turkey, with whom it has diplomatic ties.

The OECD outlined its understanding of the role it would plan in the normalization process in a letter Mathias Cormann wrote to Israel, dated March 26.

“I am pleased to confirm that Council has formally agreed to a clear and explicit pre-condition that diplomatic relations must be established with all OECD Members before any decision to invite Indonesia to become a Member of the Organization,” Cormann wrote.

This means, he stated, that the final inanition to Indonesia to become an OECD Member will not be tabled for a decision by Council before diplomatic relations have been established with all OECD Members, he stressed.

“Moreover, I recall that in conformity with Article 16 of the OECD Convention, any future decision to invite Indonesia to become an OECD Member will require unanimity among all OECD Members, including Israel,” he wrote.

Katz, in a letter dated April 10 thanked the OECD. 

“I share your expectation that this process will be a transformative one for Indonesia. I am looking forward to a positive change in Indonesia’s policies in general and vis a vis Israel in particular, notably renouncing its discriminatory policies toward Israel and establishing bilateral diplomatic relations," said Katz.

US duplicity and Arab cowardice facilitating genocide in Gaza

President Biden, looking somber, keeps urging Israel to avoid civilian deaths and to use targeted strikes on Hamas. Yet he keeps supplying Israel with 2,000 pound bunker buster bombs that are designed to kill indiscriminately and over a wide area. 

He reels against nuclear proliferation and vows to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Yet the United States will not even acknowledge the fact that Israel possesses over 200 nukes, let alone endorse a longstanding Arab and Iranian proposal to declare the region a nuclear-free zone, simply to facilitate Israel to threaten its neighbors of risk of a nuclear war. 

The United State says it wants an end to hostilities and civilian deaths, largely those of women and children in the Gaza war that is not a war because what we have is an army of well-equipped soldiers massacring defenseless women and children. Yet at the United Nations Security Council, the US has exercised vetoed three resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire.

The world recognizes that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is illegal and the US says these settlements should not be expanded, yet it is overlooking proliferation of settlements.

Lately, at the International Court of Justice, the US rushed to Israel’s defense—urging the 15-judge panel not to call for Israel’s withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territory. The American State Department lawyer in support of Israel argued that the solution was not an Israeli withdrawal but that a sovereign Palestinian state living safely and securely alongside Israel would bring about lasting peace, repeating longstanding US platitudes that Netanyahu and two of his cabinet ministers have said will never be allowed by Israel.

The US espouses these words in public in support of a Palestinian state, yet does nothing to make it a reality. 

The US officials say that they have limited power over Netanyahu and Israel. Why doesn’t Biden announce: 1) US will no longer support Israeli intransigence at the United Nations, 2) US will suspend all financial and military aid to Israel (amounting to around US$300 billion over the years), and US will no longer sell arms to Israel?

Netanyahu will do as he is told. If Netanyahu does not do as told by the US and if Israel then loses US backing, Israelis would feel so naked and vulnerable that they would demand a change of government, it is that simple.

Regrettably, no US president dares taking such a stand because of the power of the Jewish lobby. It’s time for the US citizens to wake up and demand their government treat Israel as an ally but not as the 51st state.

It will not be wrong to say that the US foreign policy toward the Middle East is in large part subservient to Israeli demands and the Jewish lobby.

Palestinians have also received little or no effective backing from their Arab and Muslim brethren. Most Arab and Muslim countries have supported South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and others have voiced their anger at Israel’s attack on Gaza, but there is much more that they could do if they had a little courage and compassion in the face of the massacre of innocent civilians, largely women and children. 

If Arabs and Muslims want to force a change in the US policies and create a Palestinian state forthwith, they should: 1) recall their ambassadors to Washington (and to Tel Aviv for those having relations), 2) expel all US military personnel (bases) from their territories, 3) follow up with both primary and secondary economic sanctions on Israel, and 4) bring cases at the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli leaders and American and European heads of state for complicity in Israeli war crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Cognizant of the fact that Israel and the US are not members of the ICC, enforcement of the court verdicts is difficult, still a conviction would be a black mark that no one would want.

Some Arab countries would be wise to consider these steps sooner rather than later as they may face growing domestic demands for action, while may lead to unrest.

Courtesy: Tehran Times

 

Most Palestinians Support Hamas

Joe Biden, President, United States, declared on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, "The overwhelming majority of Palestinians are not Hamas." He elaborated, "I won't mince words. The overwhelming majority of Palestinians are not Hamas. And Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. They're also suffering as a result of Hamas' terrorism. We need to be clear-eyed about that reality."

The Jerusalem Post writes in its editorial, “President Biden, though most Palestinians aren’t Hamas, as you claimed, a vast majority of them agree with almost any question regarding their basic ideology after October 07”.

Suppose most Palestinians, as well as most Israelis, are against a Two State Solution. In that case, you should probably speak to your advisors and ask them to think of a more practical solution - since on the ground, here in the Middle East, a two-state solution isn’t realistic if even an option.

Throughout the conflict, there has been significant debate both within Israel and internationally regarding the extent to which Hamas represents Palestinians in Gaza, the level of support for Hamas among Gazans, and the proportion of the death toll in Gaza comprising Hamas operatives.

The discussion about Gazan support for, and involvement with, Hamas has intensified recently, particularly with the looming yet uncertain ground operation expected in Rafah.

Following the president's statement, various public figures disagreed on social media. Among them, former Miss Iraq, now a human rights advocate and ally to Israel, Sarah Idan, countered with, "Tell that to the Palestinians in my inbox telling me Hamas are heroes and are freedom fighters…"

Though not all Palestinians are members of Hamas or even support it, most of them agree with its basic ideology. Several surveys, as well as monitoring of social media, found that Biden’s remarks are off.

According to a November 14 survey by the Arab World for Research and Development, most Palestinians supported the killing and kidnapping of Israelis on October 07, and just a tiny percentage supported a two-state solution.

The survey posed the question, how much do you support the military operation carried out by the Palestinian resistance led by Hamas on October 07?

The findings revealed substantial support among Palestinians for the attack.

In the West Bank, 83.1% expressed their support to varying degrees, while only 6.9% were strongly or somewhat opposed, and 8.4% remained neutral.

In the Gaza Strip, though support was slightly less unanimous, a majority of 63.6% still backed the attack, either strongly or to some extent. Another 14.4% were neutral, and opposition was slightly higher at 20.9%. Overall, 75% of respondents supported the October 07 attack in some capacity.

Regarding gender perspectives, the difference in support between Palestinian men and women was negligible, with 75.2% of men and 74.9% of women supporting the attack to some extent.

Only a minority, 0.9%, believed the attack aimed to halt the peace process, and 0.7% thought it was to prevent settlement. Additionally, 5.1% perceived the attack as benefiting Iran's interests.

When it came to the concept of a two-state solution, 74.7% favored a single Palestinian state "from the river to the sea," with higher support in the West Bank (77.7%) compared to Gaza (70.4%). Support for a two-state solution was 17.2%, with Gazans (22.7%) more favored than West Bank residents (13.3%). Only 5.4% backed a "one-state for two peoples" solution.

The perception of the conflict's nature varied, with only 18.6% viewing it as between Israel and Hamas. A majority, 63.6%, saw it as a conflict between Israel and the Palestinians at large, and 9.4% interpreted it as a conflict between the Western world and the Arab world.

Inquiries about the motive behind the October 07 operation revealed that 31.7% of West Bank respondents and 24.9% from Gaza identified "freeing Palestine" as the primary reason.

Additionally, 23.3% from the West Bank and 17.7% from Gaza pointed to "breaking the siege on the Gaza Strip" as the motive, while 35% overall cited "stopping the violations of Aqsa" as the reason, referring to issues surrounding the Al-Aqsa mosque's access.

 

Seems no end to tyranny faced by Gazans

Now is the time for the United States, and in its wake the international community, to make a decision. Will the endless cycle of violence between Israel and the Palestinians continue, or are we going to try to put a stop to it? Will the United States continue to arm Israel and then bemoan the excessive use of these armaments, or is it finally prepared to take real steps, for the first time in its history, to change reality? And above all, will the cruelest Israeli attack on Gaza become the most pointless of all, or will the opportunity that came in its aftermath not be missed, for a change?

A Palestinian state may no longer be a viable solution because of the hundreds of thousands of settlers who ruined the chances for establishing one. But a world determined to find a solution must pose a clear choice for Israel: sanctions, or an end to the occupation; territories or weapons; settlements or international support; a democratic state or a Jewish one; apartheid, or an end to Zionism. When the world stands firm, posing these options in such a manner, Israel will have to decide. Now is the time to force Israel to make the most fateful decision of its life.

There is no point in appealing to Israel. The current government, and the one that is likely to replace it, does not and never will have the intention, courage or ability to generate change. When the prime minister responds to American talks about establishing a Palestinian state with words indicating that he “objects to coerced moves,” or that “an agreement will only be reached through negotiations,” all one can do is both laugh and cry.

Laugh, because over the years Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has done all he can to foil negotiations; cry, because Israel is the one employing coercion – the nature of its policy toward the Palestinians is coercion carried out in one big unilateral, violent, aggressive and arrogant move. All of a sudden, Israel is against acts of coercion? Irony hides its head in shame.

It is pointless to expect the current Israeli government to change its character. To expect a government led by Benny Gantz, Gadi Eisenkot or Yair Lapid to do so is also painfully futile. None of them believe in the existence of a Palestinian state that is equal in its sovereign status and rights to Israel.

The three of them together and each one separately will at most, on a really good day, agree to the establishment of a Bantustan on part of the land. A genuine solution will not be found here. It’s best to leave Israel to wallow in its refusal.

But the world cannot afford to let this opportunity pass. This is the world that will soon have to reconstruct, with its funds, the ruins of the Gaza Strip, until the next time Israel demolishes it.

It is the world whose stability is undermined as long as the occupation persists, and is further undermined every time Israel embarks on another war.

This is the world that agrees that the occupation is bad for it, but has never lifted a finger to bring it to an end. Now, an opportunity to do so has cropped up. Israel’s weakness and dependence following this war must be exploited, for Israel’s benefit as well.

Enough with words, enough with the futile rounds of talks held by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the barbed words uttered by President Joe Biden, they lead nowhere.

The last Zionist president, perhaps the last one to care about what is happening in the world, must take action. One could, as a prelude, learn something from the amazingly simple and true words of European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who said, “Well, if you believe that too many people are being killed, maybe you should provide less arms to Israel.”

However, the issue is not just ending the war, but mainly, what will happen when it’s over. If it depended on Israel, under any government, we would return to the warm bosom of apartheid and to living by the sword.

The world cannot accept this any longer and cannot leave the choice to Israel. Israel has spoken: No. The time has come for a Dayton Accords-like solution. It was a forced and imperfect agreement reached in Bosnia-Herzegovina that put an end to one of the cruelest wars, and in contrast to all predictions, it has held for 29 years. The agreement was imposed by coercion.

 Courtesy: Information Clearing House

 

Israel recognition, most Arabs say never

The comprehensive poll, which gauged sentiments across 16 Arab countries, underscores a growing resistance against normalization with Israel in the wake of the Israeli war on Gaza.

A significant shift has been seen in Arab public opinion on the recognition of Israel, according to a new survey conducted by the Arab Center Washington DC (ACW), in collaboration with The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS).

The comprehensive poll, which gauged sentiments across 16 Arab countries, underscores a growing resistance against normalization with Israel in the wake of the Israeli war on Gaza.

A striking 89% of respondents from the Arab world expressed opposition to the recognition of Israel, marking a discernible increase from previous polls. This figure not only represents a nearly unanimous stance against normalization but also indicates a 5% rise in opposition compared to the results from the 2022 survey, where 84% were against recognition.

The survey detailed notable country-specific shifts in public opinion, highlighting a dramatic change in perspective among nations that have historically taken steps toward normalizing relations with Israel.

In Saudi Arabia, opposition surged from 38% in 2022 to a remarkable 68% in the latest poll. Morocco saw an increase from 67% to 78% and Sudan from 72% to 81%, showcasing a significant hardening of attitudes across diverse Arab societies

These findings signal a profound and growing sentiment within the Arab world, reflecting deep-seated frustrations and disillusionment with the peace process and the broader implications of normalization agreements.

The ACW's report emphasizes that, despite diplomatic efforts and political maneuvers, the grassroots opposition to recognizing Israel remains robust and is, in fact, intensifying.

The heightened opposition is especially pronounced in countries that have formal peace agreements with Israel, such as Jordan, Egypt, and Morocco, as well as those like Sudan, which have recently begun normalizing political relations.

Despite governmental moves towards diplomacy, there appears to be a near-consensus among the populations of these nations against the recognition of Israel, underscoring a significant disconnect between official policy and public sentiment.

The ACW survey sheds light on the complex and evolving dynamics of Arab-Israeli relations, capturing a moment of significant transition in the Arab public's stance towards Israel and the peace process.

As the region grapples with the aftermath of the Gaza war and its broader geopolitical implications, the overwhelming opposition to Israel's recognition among the Arab public stands as a testament to the enduring and shared solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

 

New Israeli mantra: Iran trying to distract world from its nuclear program

Speaking at The Jerusalem Post’s Israel Summit, leading US Evangelist Dr. Mike Evans said that the Hamas massacre on October 07, 2023 was a preemptive attack on the State of Israel by Iran, via Hamas, its proxy. Evans stated that Iran authorized the attack to divert attention from its dream of developing nuclear weapons.

“Iran is trying to exhaust Israel and distract Israel. They’re trying to exhaust the world and distract the world to keep their eyes off of Iran going atomic. Iran will be an atomic nuclear state by November of this year (2024), when the US presidential election takes place, and it wants a nuclear umbrella of Russian planes flying over Iranian airspace similar to what they do in Syria as a quid pro quo for its drones and missiles helping Russian’s war against Ukraine,” he said.

“If this happens, the Gulf States will begin a nuclear arms race and will be paving the way for Armageddon. Nineteen terrorists attacked America on September 11, 2001,” said Evans. “You can be certain that Iran has more than 190 Hezbollah sleeper cells waiting for the green light to come in through the Mexican border to America.”

Evans said that two years before the Abraham Accords, at the 2018 Jerusalem Post Summit, he had predicted that five to six Arab countries would be signing peace agreements with Israel.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu has built a bridge among these Muslim countries,” he stated, “and that alliance is not going to end because of the Gaza crisis you are in now. But the Gaza war is only the welcome mat to a Persian Pandora’s box.”

Evans provided a comprehensive list of the numerous ways in which the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem is helping the State of Israel during the war.

The organization has hosted evacuated families from the South in its apartment complex, organized free events for evacuees and their families, provided vouchers valued at thousands of shekels to evacuated families, and held special events for them twice a week at the FOZ Heritage Center.

Friends of Zion help wounded soldiers and tend to their needs, provides food and entertainment to Holocaust survivors, and renovated and repurposed a bomb shelter for the activities of Holocaust survivors.

“We are fighting a media war,” says Evans, “and it’s a real war that we’ve got to win together.”

In that spirit, Evans and Friends of Zion reported the events of October 07 from the field and hosted journalists and influencers who expressed their support for Israel.

FOZ is fighting a social network war with over 700 posts, many with over 4 million viewers, to win the hearts and minds of 40% of the globe that gets its misinformation on social networks.

 

United States needs war in Gaza

A summit by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) resulted in a blanket condemnation of Israel, but lacked substantive solutions. The summit was sabotaged by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco, who recently normalized relations with Israel. These countries block significant actions due to extensive US influence and future geopolitical calculations, causing disappointment among the international Muslim community.

After all, the Arab street – even while repressed in their home nations – has pulsed with protests expressing ferocious rage against Israel’s wholesale massacre of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Arab leaders were forced to take some sort of action beyond suspending a few ambassadorships with Israel, and called for a special Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit to discuss the ongoing Israeli war against Palestinian children.

Representatives of 57 Muslim states convened in Riyadh on 11 November to deliver a serious, practical blow against genocidal practitioners and enablers. But in the end, nothing was offered, not even solace.

The OIC’s final statement will always be enshrined in the Gilded Palace of Cowardice. Highlights of the tawdry rhetorical show: we oppose Israel’s self-defense; we condemn the attack on Gaza; we ask (who?) not to sell weapons to Israel; we request the kangaroo ICC to investigate war crimes; we request a UN resolution condemning Israel.

For the record, that’s the best 57 Muslim-majority countries could drum up in response to this 21st-century genocide. History, even if written by victors, tends to be unforgiving towards cowards.

The Top Four Cowards, in this instance, are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco – the latter three having normalized relations with Israel under a heavy US hand in 2020. These are the ones that consistently blocked serious measures from being adopted at the OIC summit, such as the Algerian draft proposal for an oil ban on Israel, plus banning the use of Arab airspace to deliver weapons to the occupation state.

Egypt and Jordan – longtime Arab vassals – were also non-committal, as well as Sudan, which is in the middle of a civil war. Turkiye, under Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan, once again showed it is all talk and no action; a neo-Ottoman parody of the Texan “all hat, no cattle.”

Two-state solution for lasting peace in Middle East

Israel hasn’t expressed interest in following the advice of world leaders that it revives the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians.

In the past wars against Hamas, Israel moved quickly to invade Gaza, seeking to degrade the militant group’s ability to fire rockets into the country, now Tel Aviv’s stated aim is Hamas’s destruction.

In the three weeks since the group killed 1,400 people in Israel, it has staged several limited ground incursions into Gaza, the latest on Friday night.

The stakes are high for Israel, from the lives of some 200 hostages to worries about triggering a regional war.

While US President Joe Biden has expressed strong support for Israel’s professed goals, he also advised delay of any full-scale invasion as he seeks to win release of the hostages and insure the flow of much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinians.

The Pentagon is also scrambling to put defensive measures in place for US assets that may come under attack (Iran has warned of such escalation, and skirmishes between the two are increasing).

At the same time, global outrage has been rising at the massive number of Palestinian casualties inflicted by Israel, with more than 7,000 dead—including thousands of children.

As the Israel Defense Forces lay waste to large swathes of the Gaza Strip, Biden has urged Israel to consider America’s mistakes after the 9/11 attacks–and to have a clear plan for the aftermath.

“Anything that could lower risks and collateral damage, while still attaining the goal of crippling Hamas, is worth consideration.” Marc Champion writes in Bloomberg Opinion.

Saudi Arabia-Israel deal in doldrums

According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia has put US-backed plans to normalize ties with Israel on ice due to rapid rethinking of its foreign policy priorities as war escalates between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas.

The conflict has also pushed the kingdom to engage with Iran. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took his first phone call from Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi as Riyadh tries to prevent a broader surge in violence across the region.

There would be a delay in the US-backed talks on normalization with Israel that was a key step for the kingdom to secure what Riyadh considers the real prize of a US defence pact in exchange.

Until Iran-backed Hamas sparked a war on October 07 by launching a devastating attack on Israel, both Israeli and Saudi leaders had been saying they were moving steadily towards a deal that could have reshaped the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia, had until the latest conflict indicated it would not allow its pursuit of a US defence pact be derailed even if Israel did not offer significant concessions to the Palestinians in the their bid for statehood.

But an approach that sidelined Palestinians would risk angering Arabs around the region, as Arab news outlets broadcast images of Palestinians killed in Israeli retaliatory airstrikes.

It is believed that talks could not be continued for now and the issue of Israeli concessions for the Palestinians would need to be a bigger priority when discussions resumed.

US National Security advisor Jake Sullivan told a White House briefing this week that the normalization effort was not on hold but said the focus was on other immediate challenges.

Reportedly, Washington had pressed Riyadh to condemn the Hamas attack but said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan pushed back.

The regional conflict has also prompted the Saudi crown prince and Iran's president to speak for the first time after a Chinese-brokered initiative prompted the Gulf rivals to re-establish diplomatic ties in April.

A Saudi statement said the crown prince told Raisi, “The kingdom is exerting maximum effort to engage with all international and regional parties to halt the ongoing escalation".

The Saudi statement said the crown prince stated the kingdom's opposition to any form of civilian targeting and the loss of innocent lives and expressed Riyadh's unwavering stance in standing up for the Palestinian cause.

Saudi Arabia has been seeking to ease tensions elsewhere in the Middle East, including seeking to end a conflict Yemen, where Riyadh has led a military coalition in a war against the Iran-aligned Houthis.

Asked about Raisi's call with the crown prince, a senior US State Department official said Washington was in constant contact with Saudi leaders.

The official said Washington was asking partners with channels to Hamas, Hezbollah - a Lebanese armed group aligned with Tehran that fought a war with Israel in 2006 to get Hamas to stand down from its attacks, to release hostages, keep Hezbollah out (and) keep Iran out of the fray."

Gulf states, including those with Israeli ties, were worried Iran could be drawn into a conflict that would affect them.

Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said the last week showed how the Saudi and Iranian visions for the region diverged.

"The Saudis are still convinced the region, and Saudi Arabia itself, needs to shift toward regional cooperation and economic development. Iran seems to think the priority is to take the fight to the Israelis first," he said.

 

 

What is endgame in Gaza?

As these lines are being written, tens of thousands of IDF soldiers are stationed near Gaza, ready to enter. Israel’s security cabinet has met multiple times and made decisions that have remarkably not been shared press. It appears that the actual goals of the war remain top secret.

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, closest to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke generally about his government’s objectives in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday, thw day he attended security cabinet meetings and was on the phone when US President Joe Biden called Netanyahu.  “We need to cripple the capacity of the terrorists,” Dermer said, without revealing too many details.

Israeli military warns Gazans to relocate south for safety. It means there has been a change in the paradigm, because if not, what is the point of risking the lives of Israel’s soldiers and the reservists who left lucrative jobs to fight for the country?

The IDF has been advised to craft a security zone around the Gaza Strip to prevent future infiltrations. The security zone would be no man’s land and would not enable additional surprises. 

It was not safe to have communities so close to the Gaza Strip that has been controlled by terrorists since the 2007 Hamas takeover. Such a security zone would obviously not stop rocket attacks, but it would give the Iron Dome missile defense system additional precious seconds to protect people. 

Israel has had security zones on its border before, including in Lebanon. A security zone on the Lebanese border can be restored.   

During the time the security zone is in place, international efforts must be made to inculcate a culture of peace in the next generation of Gazans and eliminate a culture of terrorism.

It is interesting that after betting pools were created on whether the potential agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia would be sabotaged by Israel, the Palestinians, or Biden, it ended up being Iran. Biden, of course, did his part, too.

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Iranian security officials helped plan Hamas’s attacks after authorizing them at a meeting in Beirut last Monday. 

The Biden administration admitted on Saturday that there was no doubt Tehran has been providing support for Hamas in the form of funding and arms, the Journal reported.

What connects these two reports is that the Biden administration has enabled Iran to receive access to billions of dollars that were frozen in South Korea. It also distributed hundreds of millions of dollars in US taxpayer funds to the Palestinians.

Internal documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon in August found that despite internal assessments that such funding could boost Hamas, the Biden administration allocated the money anyway. The internal documents included the draft of the exemption request and internal emails about the need for the Treasury Department to grant it.

“We assess there is a high-risk Hamas could potentially derive indirect, unintentional benefit from US assistance to Gaza,” the State Department wrote in a draft sanctions exemption request circulated internally in March 2021, shortly after Biden took office, according to the report. “Notwithstanding this risk, State believes it is in our national security interest to provide assistance in the West Bank and Gaza to support the foreign policy objectives.”

It must make up for this strategic error by giving full support to Israel to do everything necessary to ensure that Hamas and Islamic Jihad will never be able to attack Israel again from Gaza, Judea, or Samaria.

Finally, Biden must seek a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia along the parameters of the Abraham Accords, with no Palestinian involvement or concessions to the corrupt Palestinian Authority or the terrorist organizations. 

Riyadh concerned about Tehran's response to normalizing ties with Israel

An ex-Iranian envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said that Saudi Arabia was worried about Iran’s response to the establishment of relations between Riyadh and the Israeli regime.

In a recent interview with Jamaran news outlet on Saturday, Sabah Zanganeh noted, “Saudi Arabia agreed to restore ties with Iran to be able to pursue the normalization of relations with Israel is not a precise analysis.”

“Such an analysis would be an exaggeration,” he added. “Saudi Arabia is, has been and will be worried about Iran’s reaction. The other countries which have pursued the same policy are still concerned about Iran’s stance, too,” he averred.

Additionally, the ex-envoy addressed Riyadh’s attitude on Washington as saying, “Saudi Arabia seeks to gain concessions from the United States; namely, it seeks the privilege of atomic energy enrichment from the US.”

He stated that the Saudis were making an effort to obtain concessions in order to justify their choice. 

“The Saudis want Israel’s cutting-edge technologies as well as a trade and oil transit line to the Mediterranean,” he said.

The former Iranian OIC ambassador remarked that the improvement in ties between the two countries has left the Saudis without any excuses to gain more concessions and justify forming an alliance with Israel.”

“Israel, for its part, lost an element which it used to provoke Arab countries to adopt harsh stances against Iran,” he added. 

In a meeting with a group of foreign guests attending a Muslim unity conference in Tehran lately, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Iran aims to further strengthen relations with Saudi Arabia with the purpose of blocking normalization with the Zionist regime of Israel.

He continued, “Today, we are witnessing the resumption of Iran-Saudi relations, our intention is to have deep and extensive relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia with an eye on the interests of the Islamic world and with the aim of disappointing the enemy and blocking the way to normalize relations.”

Back in September, Iran’s new ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Alireza Enayati, said that Tehran views Saudi Arabia as a strategic partner in the West Asia region. 

In remarks to the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Enayati said, “We consider the Kingdom a strategic partner of great importance within the framework of the good neighborliness policy pursued by the current government.”

Enayati told the Saudi paper that he intended to dedicate his efforts in the upcoming period to enhance and foster relations between Tehran and Riyadh.

He emphasized that both sides are strongly determined and sincerely willing to develop these relations, expressing optimism about a promising future.

The ambassador pointed out that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi had instructed him to do his utmost to strengthen brotherly and friendly relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

 

Iran to block normalization with Israel

Iranian foreign minister has said that his country aims at further strengthening relations with Saudi Arabia with the purpose to block normalization with the Zionist regime of Israel.

Hossein Amir Abdollahian made the remarks in a meeting with a group of foreign guests attending a Muslim unity conference in Tehran. 

Amir Abdollahian and a number of foreign ministry officials met with the guests of the 37th International Islamic Unity Conference. The annual conference was held in Tehran with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in attendance. 

In the meeting, Amir Abdollahian appreciated the efforts of the secretary general of the Association of Ecumenism in holding the unity conference, and considered this conference as a banner of unity and ecumenism in the Islamic world, according to a statement by the Iranian foreign ministry.

The foreign minister said, “According to scientific indicators, the international world order and system is changing, and in the change and evolution of the world order, United States, as a superpower that has been striving for unilateralism for decades, still has the characteristics of a hegemon, but it is not able to apply it.” 

Amir Abdollahian considered the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani by United States, and Iran’s decisive response to this act in targeting the Ain al-Assad base and the inability of the US to show the slightest reaction to it as an example that the US is not able to exercise hegemony and this is as an example of the changing world order.

“Today, the world is in a sharp historical turn that has multiplied the mission of scholars and thinkers all over the world,” he added. 

“We have entered a new stage of developments in the region and the world, and today the understanding is being strengthened that if we do not think about our security, others will not help,” the foreign minister pointed out.

He continued, “Today, we are witnessing the resumption of Iran-Saudi relations, our intention is to have deep and extensive relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia with an eye on the interests of the Islamic world and with the aim of disappointing the enemy and blocking the way to normalize relations.”

He also pointed to the improvement of relations between Iran and Egypt. “We have met with the Egyptian foreign minister and made good agreements that we hope to witness a good development for the benefit of the two nations.” 

Amir Abdollahian held talks with his Egyptian counterpart on the sidelines of the annual UN conference in New York last month.

Referring to the speech delivered by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at the session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Amir Abdollahian said, “Dr. Raisi, the president of our country, had two important initiatives while attending the United Nations; in addition to raising the Quran in this meeting, he raised the important issue of the family, because the global movement of solidarity with the family should be launched in the world. We are pursuing this issue in cultural institutions so that it becomes a global movement.”

 

Iran terms Netanyahu speech at UNGA a comedy show

Iran has termed speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly a “comedy show” and utterings against its peaceful nuclear program and its regional actions “unfounded”.

In a statement released, the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran noted that Netanyahu had rambled on during his talks to the United Nations about the “curse of a nuclear Iran” and claimed that Tehran had spent “billions to arm its terror proxies.”

In addition, Netanyahu bragged that the scandalous Abraham Accords would herald a “New Middle East” that would bring “Arabs and Jews closer together” and bring about significant changes in the region.

“The baseless allegations made by Israeli officials no longer fool anyone. Iranophobic campaigns and widespread systematic dissemination of disinformation and unfounded allegations against Iran have always been one of the main elements of statements—or better to say, comedy shows—made by the Israeli authorities in this august body,” the Iranian delegation said.

It added, “The regime attempts to portray Iran’s conventional weapon capabilities or its exclusively peaceful nuclear program, one that is under the most robust verification of the International Atomic Energy Agency, as a challenge to regional stability; this is but a hypocritical move to distract from the real danger this regime poses to regional peace and security, particularly its nuclear-weapon arsenals, clandestine and unsafeguarded nuclear installations and activities.”

It also emphasized the Israeli regime’s checkered history of housing, funding, inciting, and arming the most deadly terrorist networks.

“The repulsive Israeli occupation has brought many crises and instability throughout the region. As such, it is ironic that the prime minister of the Israeli regime spoke about developing a regional peace initiative while his bloodthirsty regime plans to annex even more of the already occupied Palestinian territories,” the statement noted.

Netanyahu’s claim that Iranian drones were used in the conflict in Ukraine was also rejected by the delegation, which stated that “such baseless allegations, which are solely based on false flags and fabricated assumptions, are nothing more than a propaganda apparatus launched by certain States to further their political agenda.”

The statement emphasized how Israel continues to threaten regional and international peace and security by possessing all known forms of WMDs.

The delegation responded to Israel’s threats to use force against Iran by saying, “The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its inherent right to self-defense, under international law and the United Nations Charter, to decisively respond to any threat or wrongdoing committed by the Israeli regime.”

Israel’s disruptive policies and practices were also condemned by the Iranian delegation, which said that the regime has been committing atrocities against Palestinians for more than 70 years “in flagrant violation of the basic principles of morality, humanity, and the rules of international law.”

 

Israel must be brought back to its original size

A little ago I have posted almost the entire text of speech of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations. He claimed, “Israel is on the verge of creating a peace with Saudi Arabia that could transform the Middle East as long as Iran’s nuclear threat is eliminated”.

Netanyahu showed two maps of Israel so that the audience could better understand the historic transformation that was about to occur.  He first showed a map from 1948, a tiny country.

Then he showed a modern map and talked about normalization of Israeli’s ties with four of its Arab neighbors under the US-backed Abraham Accords and drew a circle around those countries.

I am sure, many Muslim countries would immediately recognize Israel, if Saudi Arab normalizes its relations with Israel. However, I request all my readers to read my blog titled “Israel must be brought back to its original size” written as back as December 01, 2012, Following are the excerpts.

I wrote this blog after Israel announced to build 3,000 new settlement homes on occupied land, a slap on the face of international community that has just recognized Palestine State, accepted the philosophy of two sovereign states, Israel and Palestine. The announcement once again proved that Israel is a usurper.

I wrote, “If the international community, particularly United States wants Palestinians to behave diligently, they must asked Israel to stop construction of settlements on occupied land and also bring Israel back to its original boundaries demarcated at the time of creation of a state for the Jews”.

A cautioned, “Israel's moves serves as a harsh reminder to Palestinians that while they now have a state on paper, most of it remains very much under Israeli control, this is a doomsday scenario”.

Israel's decision also embarrassed the United States, which was among just nine countries in the 193-member General Assembly to vote against accepting Palestine as a non-member observer state.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland criticized the Israeli announcement. "These actions are counterproductive and make it harder to resume direct negotiations or achieve a two-state solution," she said.

It may be recalled that the successive US administrations have pressured Israel not to build E-1 because it would effectively cut off east Jerusalem from the West Bank, and split the northern part of the territory from the southern part. E-1 will be the death of the two-state solution.

It is on record that Tzipi Livni, Israel's former foreign minister and chief negotiator with the Palestinians warned, "The decision to build thousands of housing units as punishment to the Palestinians only punishes Israel ... (and) only isolates Israel further."

Even at that time Netanyahu was blamed for defying the whole international community and insisting on destroying the two-state solution.

 

The UN endorsed a Palestinian state in territories Israel captured in 1967, but Netanyahu refused to use the 1967 lines as a starting point. The Palestinian demand for a settlement freeze ahead of negotiations still stands.

On the Israeli side, compromise on settlements seemed unlikely as Netanyahu was seeking re-election at the helm of a Likud party had turned more hawkish and in an electoral alliance with an ultra-nationalist pro-settler party.

 

Netanyahu’s New Middle East

Israel is on the verge of creating a peace with Saudi Arabia that could transform the Middle East as long as Iran’s nuclear threat is eliminated, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United Nations on Friday.

“We are at the cusp of a dramatic breakthrough, a historic peace with Saudi Arabia”, Netanyahu said as he stood before a mostly empty plenum during the high-level session that marks the opening of the 78th General Assembly.

“Such a peace will go a long way to ending the Arab-Israeli conflict. It will encourage other Arab states to normalize relations with Israel. It will enhance the prospects of peace with the Palestinians,” Netanyahu said.

On a global scale, he said, “It will encourage a broader reconciliation between Judaism and Islam between Jerusalem and Mecca between the descendants of Isaac and the descendants of Ishmael,” he added.

Netanyahu, long known for his reliance on props at the United Nations held up two maps of Israel and the region so that the audience could better understand the historic transformation that was about to occur. 

The first showed a map from 1948, the year of the creation of the state when it was attacked by all its Arab neighbors which showed how Israel was alone in the region.

“Here's Israel in 1948. It's a tiny country, isolated, surrounded by a hostile Arab world. In our first seventy years, we made peace only with Egypt and Jordan,” Netanyahu said.

Then he held up a modern map that already reflected the change that occurred in 2020 when Israel normalized ties with four of its Arab neighbors under the US-backed Abraham Accords, as well as what could occur if Saudi Arabia joined that circle. He took out a red marker and drew a circle around those countries.

“The whole Middle East changes. We tear down the walls of enmity. We bring the possibility of prosperity and peace to this entire region,” Netanyahu said.

He recalled that he had used the same red marker at the UN plenum when highlighting the danger of a nuclear Iran.

“Today, today I bring this marker to show a great blessing… of a new Middle East, between Israel, Saudi Arabia and our other neighbors. We will not only bring down barriers between Israel and our neighbors.”

Netanyahu addressed his vision of a new peace to an almost empty plenum, while outside activists rallied against his judicial reform program.

It was the end of a week of intense diplomatic activity that marked his first trip to the United States since taking office at the end of December 2022.

He arrived as US efforts were underway to forge a quadrilateral deal that would center on an agreement between Washington and Riyadh that would include a normalization deal between that Kingdom and Israel. In exchange, Israel would be expected to make concessions to the Palestinians.

Bloomberg has also reported that the US is considering a security pact with Israel as part of the deal. 

The Saudi deal has been a major focus of Netanyahu’s trip, including his conversation on Wednesday with US President Joe Biden.   

In an interview with Fox News, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that his country and Israel were closer than ever to a deal and that the engagement on the matter was serious.

In his UN address, Netanyahu said “I believe we can achieve peace with Saudi Arabia with the leadership of President Biden.”

He added, “Working together with the leadership of Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman, we can shape a future of great blessings for all our peoples.”  

Netanyahu’s belief that the normalization of Israeli-Arab ties should occur as the first step toward a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has long stood at odds with the internationally accepted understanding that a two-state solution must be a pre-requisite to regional relations.

“For years, my approach to peace was rejected by the so-called experts,” Netanyahu said, adding that, “Well, they were wrong.”

“Under their approach, we didn’t forge a single peace treaty for a quarter century” until the 2020 Abraham Accords, Netanyahu said.

Prior to those accords, peacemaking efforts were based on the false premise that unless we first concluded a peace agreement with the Palestinians, no other Arab state would normalize its relations with Israel, Netanyahu explained.

“I’ve long sought to make peace with the Palestinians. But I also believe that we must not give the Palestinians a veto over new peace treaties with Arab states. The Palestinians could greatly benefit from a broader peace. They should be part of the process, but they should not have a veto over the process,” Netanyahu stated.

“When the Palestinians see that most of the Arab world has reconciled itself to the Jewish state, they too will be more likely to abandon the fantasy of destroying Israel and finally embrace a path of genuine peace with it,” Netanyahu said. 

“A new Palestinian-Israeli relationship, however, cannot be based on lies and on the endless vilification of the Jewish people,” Netanyahu said.

He pointed specifically to statements Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas made in August in which he said that Hitler killed the Jews during World War II because of their history with money lending and not because of anti-Semitism.

“Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas must stop spreading the horrible anti-Semitic conspiracies against the Jewish people and the Jewish state. He recently said that Hitler wasn’t an anti-Semite. You can't make this up. But he did. He said that.”

Netanyahu also took issue with the Palestinian Authority’s policy of providing monthly financial stipends to terrorists with blood on their hands as well as to their family members.  

“The Palestinian Authority must stop glorifying terrorists. They must stop its ghoulish pay-to-slay policy of giving money to Palestinian terrorists for the murder of Jews. This is all outrageous,” Netanyahu said.

“For peace to prevail the Palestinians must stop spewing Jew-hatred and finally reconciliation themselves to the Jewish state. 

“By that I mean not only to the existence of the Jewish state but to the right of the Jewish people to have a state of their own in their historic homeland, the Land of Israel,” Netanyahu added. 

In addition to anti-Semitism, Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and its support of global terrorism is the fly in the ointment when it comes to regional peace, Netanyahu said.

“Rest assured, the fanatics ruling Iran will do everything they can to thwart this historic peace,” Netanyahu stated.

At home Iran has killed and arrested thousands of its own citizens and abroad it has used armed drones and its missile program to threaten its neighbors and has provided weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine, Netanyahu explained.   

“Yet the regime’s aggression is largely met by indifference in the international community,” Netanyahu emphasized.

The international community must do more to support the brave women and men of Iran who despise this regime and yearn for freedom, who've gone out bravely on the sidewalks of Tehran and Iran's other cities and face death,” Netanyahu said.

In light of Iran’s enrichment of uranium, he called for the international community to reimpose crippling sanctions against Iran as promised under the terms of the largely defunct 2015 Iran deal. 

“Eight years ago, the Western powers promised that if Iran violated the nuclear deal, the sanctions would be snapped back,” Netanyahu stated.

“Well, Iran is violating the deal. But the sanctions have not been snapped back,” he explained, adding,“To stop its nuclear ambitions, this policy must change.”

“Sanctions must be snapped back and above all, Iran must face a credible military threat,” Netanyahu said.

He pledged that “As long as I am prime minister of Israel, I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.”

Prospects of Saudi Arabia joining Abraham Accords getting bleaker

At present international attention is heavily focused on the prospects of a megadeal among Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.

The prime objectives of the deal include access to US security commitments, advanced weaponry, and civilian nuclear facilities for the Saudis, full diplomatic relations with the most important Muslim country for Israel.

For the United States, the agreement would strengthen its regional security framework and provide new evidence of US political and diplomatic heft — a fitting riposte to those who perceive Chinese or Russian regional ascendency.

A question arises, will Saudi-Israeli normalization bring about a fundamental realignment of regional relationships?

As the original Abraham Accords signatories — Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain — observe the third anniversary of their September 2020 agreement, there is a sufficient basis to evaluate whether the Abraham Accords are real, hype, or something in between.

On the occasion of the Accords’ anniversary, the results are mixed. The rise of a far-right extremist government in Jerusalem, deepening violence between Israelis and Palestinians, and deteriorating conditions for Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem have set back relations, frozen the Negev Forum, as well as triggered a sharp decline in Arab popular opinion toward normalization.

The hardening of Arab popular opposition to normalization is likely to complicate the process going forward.

At present, the Biden administration’s attention is on adding more members to the Accords to lay a foundation for enhanced cooperation among the parties in the security arena and offer at least the potential to expand bilateral trade and investment opportunities.

It is necessary to keep in mind that the agreements do not operate in a vacuum and cannot be sustained in the absence of advancing on other issues of governmental and popular concern.

One of the opinions is that the Abraham Accords were about preventing annexation. However, at present Israeli settlement expansion and annexation is once again being widely bruited.

There are many reasons to be skeptical about the prospects for a successful conclusion to the current Saudi-Israel-US negotiations. The key issue for Saudi Arabia as the leader of the Arab-Muslim world is, will Israel preserve the two-state option?

Saudis are sufficiently determined to demand such an agreement, is the current Israeli government capable of making a deal with the Saudis and abide by it? That is far from certain.

Israeli attempt to normalize Libya ties backfires

Libyan Prime Minister has firmly rejected the prospect of normalizing relations with Israel, days after the news broke out of an apparent secret meeting between the Libyan foreign minister and her Israeli counterpart.

On August 27, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen publicly said he and Libya’s now sacked foreign minister had held a private meeting in the Italian capital Rome the previous week, the first-ever alleged encounter between a top Libyan diplomat and an Israeli regime official in history.

The next day, Libya’s Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah fired Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush, (who claimed it was not an official meeting but a swift coincidental interaction) and launched an investigation into the reported meeting. 

Mangoush’s whereabouts is now unknown following the uproar in Libya after news emerged of the exchange late last week.

Dbeibah also touched on the ongoing probe about the incident, saying, “Regardless of good or bad intentions, together we (the Libyan people) will learn the details of what happened in Rome through the ongoing investigation.”

Under a 1957 law in Libya, it is illegal to normalize ties with the occupation regime of Israel. Libya has long been hostile toward the Israeli regime and a staunch supporter of the Palestinians.

During a televised ministerial meeting of the Libyan Government of National Unity, Prime Minister Dbeibah said his government completely rejects any form of normalization with Israel.

"Before I assumed this mission, (I affirm) our categorical and complete rejection of any form of normalization, and our complete bias towards the Palestinian people and their just cause,” Dbeibah told his ministers.

The Premier has also accepted responsibility for the foreign minister’s illegal interaction, in spite of being unaware of the reported secret gathering, saying, “Despite everything that happened to our people, they still cling to their principles and identity. In fact, from this place, I bear full responsibility for this government, regardless of who made mistakes in it and who was responsible.”

“Long live Libya, long live its people, long live Palestine, and long live the Palestinian cause in our hearts,” he added.

On Tuesday, Libya’s parliament also condemned the meeting, while voicing opposition to any attempt toward any level of normalization with Israel, with the parliament speaker denouncing any contacts with the regime and emphasizing Libya’s support for the Palestinians. 

Aguila Saleh Issa added that no one is allowed to undermine the Palestine struggle for freedom, and everyone should work on establishing a Palestinian state with occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital.

In a sign of how just sensitive the news was for the Libyan public, the reported meeting ignited angry street protests in several Libyan cities, including mass rallies in the capital Tripoli, with demonstrations strongly condemning Israel and protesters chanting slogans in support of the Palestinians. 

This, in turn, prompted the suspended foreign minister Mangoush to reportedly flee to Turkey for fear of her safety. Her exact whereabouts remain unknown.

Israeli news reports suggest that the regime’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was furious with his foreign minister for making the news public before informing him.

Reports also suggest the United States is fuming about the Israeli announcement of the reported meeting amid the wave of angry reactions from Libya.

Both Israel and the US are reportedly said to have hoped the private meeting could have materialized into some type of PR boost for Israel and President Biden, ahead of the 2024 US presidential election with a view to some kind of normalization agenda between Israel and Libya.

The response from the Libyan people and the government officials since the news broke out suggests that no such measure will materialize in the foreseeable future.

Israel is finding itself isolated in West Asia after the so-called Abraham Accords which saw the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco normalizing ties with Israel when Donald Trump was at the White House.

While Sudan formally joined the so-called Abraham Accords, relations between Sudan and the occupation regime have been frozen because of domestic opposition and political instability.
Three years later, Israel had widely hoped to expand on the so-called Abraham Accords by normalizing ties with many more states in West Asia and Africa, something that has yet to transpire.

Palestinians have said the Abraham Accords have emboldened Israel in its brutal crackdown in the occupied territories, describing the deal as a stab in the back for the Palestinian cause.

According to the United Nations, Israeli forces have killed more than 200 Palestinians so far this year, many of them women and children, the highest annual death toll since the UN began keeping records in 2005.

But 2023 has yet to end and Israeli aggression against the Palestinians continues to expand, particularly the almost daily pre-dawn heavy military invasions in the occupied West Bank cities, towns and villages that have been condemned by human rights groups as “merciless”.

On Friday, the regime's military raided several cities in the occupied West Bank, killing an innocent teacher in the village of Aqaba, while injuring and arresting many others, including family members of residents that Israel claims are wanted. 

Israel is being governed by one of the most fascist regimes in the entity’s short history.  And while former Israeli rulers committed similar war crimes against the Palestinians, observers say the new ministers in Netanyahu’s cabinet are not even trying to hide their brutal and illegal practices, unlike previous ones who tried to cover them up. Netanyahu’s cabinet openly boasts about killing Palestinian civilians.

This has added extra pressure on any regional state's official pondering the idea of some kind of diplomatic normalization and being seen warming up to the new fanatical criminal gang in charge of the occupied Palestinian territories.

 

Deteriorating Israel-Arab relationships

Dynamics between Israel and the Arab world have taken a turn for the worse in the first few months of the current Israeli government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The positive momentum in Israel-Arab relations, which Netanyahu himself was the key in generating through the signing of the Abraham Accords in September 2020 and which picked up pace during the Naftali Bennett-Yair Lapid government that followed, has slowed down since the Netanyahu took office in late December 2022.

Netanyahu initially sought to continue his regional achievements after taking over once again as prime minister, and Arab leaders at first played along. But this quickly changed given his government’s harsh policies and extreme statements; soon, Arab warnings to Israel and condemnations of its actions became a recurring theme.

In parallel, meetings between Israeli and Arab heads of state and ministers became increasingly rare, even though practical cooperation continued and previous understandings have mostly endured.

Under Israel’s current government, only limited progress may be feasible in Israel-Arab relations. But conditions for positive change do exist and include marginalizing Israeli extremists, avoiding a flare-up with the Palestinians, reducing the domestic turmoil in Israel, and ensuring the effective involvement of both the United States and the European Union.

Preventive diplomacy enabled the convening of two regional security summits, creating a new mechanism for engagement to increase stability. With Ramadan concluding without a flare-up, a cease-fire reached in Gaza, and domestic turmoil in Israel quieting somewhat, there is potential for renewed Israel-Arab engagement and there are already indications that this is happening.

This trend will become more significant if the United States prioritizes it. That will require Netanyahu to show greater moderation on the Palestinian issue, limit extremists in his coalition, and further backtrack on domestic democratic erosion.

The US should advance regional security summits and the Negev Forum, include a Palestinian component in Israel-Arab cooperative endeavors and normalization efforts, and encourage the EU’s recent initiative to advance a comprehensive regional peace.

 

Israel discussing direct Haj flights to Saudia

Israel voiced hope on Wednesday that Saudi authorities would admit direct flights for its Muslim citizens who want to make the Haj pilgrimage, which takes place next month, in what would mark another step toward normalizing relations.

Saudi Arabia signalled approval for Israel's US-sponsored forging of ties with Gulf neighbours United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in 2020 but has held off on following suit, saying Palestinian goals for statehood should be addressed first.

Any such prospects have been further clouded, however, by Riyadh's strains with US President Joe Biden, its recent fence-mending with regional rival Iran - a foe of Israel - and the rise of Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-right Israeli government.

Netanyahu's centrist predecessor, Yair Lapid, said on March 10 that, as prime minister last year, he secured Saudi consent for what would be the first direct Haj flights from Israel, some 18% of whose population is Muslim.

Riyadh has not offered confirmation.

Asked whether the direct flights would happen for next month's pilgrimage to the holy Saudi city of Mecca, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said a request had been submitted.

"This issue is under discussion. I cannot tell you if there is any progress," he said in an interview with Israel's Army Radio. "But with that, I am optimistic that we can advance peace with Saudi Arabia."

The Biden administration last June predicted there would be direct charter flights from Israel to Saudi Arabia for the Haj. But a senior US official briefed on the matter told Reuters on Wednesday that it was unclear if the flights would go ahead.

Muslims from Israel and the Palestinian territories currently travel to Mecca through third-party countries, which can spell additional expense and bother.

Saudi Arabia has been allowing Israeli airlines to overfly it to UAE and Bahrain since 2020, a corridor that it and next-door Oman have since expanded to include other destinations.