Oman urges Israel to create Palestinian State

Omani Foreign Minister told his Israeli counterpart he hopes Israel's new government will take concrete steps towards creating an independent Palestinian state, with east Jerusalem as its capital, reported Omani state media said on Thursday.

Oman's Badr al-Busaidi spoke by phone to Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, according to ONA, the state news agency of Oman, which has a longstanding policy of neutrality in the turbulent region and often acts as a mediator.

In February this year, Busaidi said Oman was satisfied with its current relationship with Israel, even after fellow Gulf States the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalized ties with Israel last year under US-brokered accords.

Lapid will travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next week in the first official visit by an Israeli minister to the Gulf state since they established diplomatic relations. He will inaugurate the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General of Israel in Dubai.

Israel and Oman enjoy bilateral relations. In line with the Arab League position in relation to Israel, Oman does not officially recognize the state of Israel and took part in the boycott of Israel during much of the 20th century.

It may be recalled that in 1994, the two countries established unofficial trade relations, which were discontinued in 2000. In 1994, then-Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin visited Oman, where he was greeted by Sultan of Oman; Qaboos bin Said al Said in Muscat.

Among other things, the two sides discussed issues such as sharing water and how to improve water supplies.

In 1995, a few days after Rabin was assassinated, then-acting Prime Minister Shimon Peres hosted Omani foreign minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah in Jerusalem.

In January 1996, Israel and Oman signed an agreement on the reciprocal opening of trade representative offices.

In 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led a delegation to Oman and met with Sultan Qaboos and other senior Omani officials.

In February 2019, Omani foreign minister, Yusuf bin Alawi, said that Oman will not normalize its relations with Israel until a sovereign Palestinian state has been established.

Bennett defeats first motions of no-confidence

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Monday successfully defeated the opposition’s first motions of no-confidence by votes of 60-49 and 59-50. Former Likud minister Ophir Akunis introduced the motions, calling the new government illegitimate because its ruling party, Yamina, has only six loyal MKs.

The government’s liaison to the Knesset, Ze’ev Elkin (New Hope), responded that opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu had offered a rotation as prime minister to Bennett and to New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar, indicating that it was legitimate for Netanyahu.

By contrast, Netanyahu did not offer such a rotation to anyone else in Likud, despite his own party winning 30 seats, indicating that it was not legitimate for the former prime minister, he said.

“I understand your frustration with losing power, which was unnecessary because Likud could have formed a government if Netanyahu would have agreed to stand aside,” Elkin told former Likud ministers.

In response, Shas leader Arye Deri said at Sa’ar’s request, Netanyahu had agreed to key Likud figures becoming prime minister, including MKs Yariv Levin, Yuval Steinitz and Avi Dichter, and Netanyahu agreed to obtain the approval of the Likud central committee, but Bennett did not agree.

“The cat is out of the bag,” he said. “Naftali Bennett torpedoed it.”

Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana (Yamina) responded: “That is a lie.”

Elkin accused Netanyahu of spending the Likud’s funds to pay protesters to come to his home late at night and frighten his five-year-old daughter.

“In your eyes, whatever serves you is always legitimate, and what removes you from power is always illegitimate,” he told Netanyahu.

Netanyahu responded to his former close confidant sarcastically by saying, “Everyone knows how much the previous speaker cares about the state and how much he takes care of himself.”

The new “government is dangerous, and that is why we will topple it faster than people think,” he said.

Another test of the government is set to take place next week when votes will be held on extending an ordinance that prevents family reunification of Palestinians and Arab-Israelis.

Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich on Monday said his party would not be voting with the coalition to extend the ordinance.

“We won’t be the ones plugging holes for this coalition or those who save it from itself,” he said.

The coalition needs the support of right-wing opposition MKs to pass the ordinance because it is opposed by the Ra’am (United Arab List) Party, as well as Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej and Mossi Raz of Meretz.

Bennett was set to join a meeting of Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked (Yamina) and Ra’am head Mansour Abbas late Monday in an effort to solve the problem.

At a Likud faction meeting on Monday, it was decided that Likud MKs would vote against the law preventing the unification of Palestinian families.

China offers to host Israeli Palestinian peace talks

During a virtual meeting of the 15-member UN Security Council on Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi again called for an immediate ceasefire between the two sides and for Israel to lift its blockade and siege of Gaza as soon as possible.

Wang also urged the United States to stop obstructing the council in taking action on the conflict, and to support its efforts to ease tensions and to find a political resolution. China took over as rotating chair of the council at the beginning of May this year.

“We will continue to increase our efforts to urge for peace and promote talks, and fulfil our responsibilities as chair of the Security Council,” he said. “We reaffirm our invitation to peacemakers from Palestine and Israel to come to China to open up dialogue, and we welcome negotiators from both sides to engage in direct talks in China.”

Wang said talks should resume for a two-state solution that would include the early establishment of an independent Palestinian state, based on the 1967 border with the contested East Jerusalem as its capital, that would coexist with the state of Israel.

He also said Israel needed to stop expelling Palestinians from their homes, to stop violence and threats against Muslims, and to respect the status quo of religious sites in Jerusalem. At the same time, the Palestinian side should avoid escalating the situation, including by firing rockets towards Tel Aviv, he said.

Along with Norway and Tunisia, China has sought a more active role in easing tensions between the two sides, with the three countries pushing for two earlier rounds of closed-door Security Council consultations. The three also released a joint statement calling for an “immediate cessation of all acts of violence, provocation, incitement, destruction and eviction plans”.

In the midst of their rivalry for global influence, Beijing has contrasted its diplomatic efforts with those of the United States – a close ally of Israel, saying Washington had blocked the Security Council from issuing a joint statement for the immediate cessation of hostilities between the two sides. China has also come under greater pressure for its repression of Muslims and ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.

Li Weijian, vice-president of the Chinese Association of Middle East Studies, said Wang’s remarks were more specific than on previous occasions, when China had stayed more at the level of rhetorical appeals.

“In the past, China has always called for a ceasefire, but it rarely mentions how and who would provide the platform for negotiations,” he said. “Because China is now positioning itself as a global power, it needs to take up the responsibilities of a major power, so it cannot be absent on hot global issues.”

Li said Arab countries had also expressed the hope that China would play a greater role in the region.

Israelis and Palestinians have previously been invited to hold talks in China, including during Wang’s trip to the Middle East in March, but observers said the offers had not been taken seriously because Beijing was not considered an important actor in the conflict.

Huang Minxing, a professor at Northwest University in Xian, said China lacked experience in the region’s politics but its neutral stance could be effective.

“China has long pursued a policy of non-interference in other country’s affairs, and Middle Eastern affairs are also overly complex, so China would be more cautious about getting involved,” he said.

But Huang added that China had a chance to take on a greater role in the region, as US President Joe Biden was still developing his policy on Israel, and Europe had long had concerns over Washington’s bias towards Israel. While China maintained a neutral position, and tried to bring up a solution in terms of international justice, such a position may be objectively more inclined towards Arab countries, he said.

“As long as China actively communicates with the international community, there is an opportunity for practical action if it works to speak in a collective voice with the international community,” Huang said. “When the US is forcing the entire world to choose sides between China and the US, China would want to expand its own circle of friends and would work hard to do so to cope with US pressure.”

While Biden spoke separately with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on the issue, Wang conveyed his position on Saturday in a phone call to his counterpart in neighboring Pakistan.

 There have been no meaningful negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis for almost a decade. There’s no unified or representative leadership on the Palestinian side that could hold their own with the Israelis even if talks were to restart.”

Creations of two states only solution for establishing sustainable peace in Middle East

This morning I saw a picture on Facebook, which offers the solution for sustainable peace in the Middle East. May be, many of the readers of this blog don’t agree with me, but there is no harm in exploring this option with cool head.

Please allow me to say any idea of uprooting Jews from Israel is only a diabolic thinking and unworkable option. It can bring unrest, killing of innocent people, destruction of infrastructure and properties, but certainly cannot establish peace in the region.

The new effort has to start with accepting the reality of two states, Israel and Palestine. To begin with Israel will have to stop occupying more and more area owned by Palestinians and abstain from constructing settlement.

This prompts me to refer to one of my blogs, written as back as in December 2012 titled, “Israel must be brought back to its original size”. Its opening paragraph said, “The latest announcement of Israel to build 3,000 new settlement homes on occupied land is a slap on the face of international community that has just recognized Palestine State, accepting the philosophy of two sovereign states, Israel and Palestine. The latest announcement once again proves that Israel is a usurper and also responsible for any retaliation by Palestinians.”

It also said, “If the international community, particularly United States wants Palestinians to behave diligently, it must ask 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.

Israel's decision embarrasses 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.

The United States smashed all its previous efforts, when Donald Trump declared Jerusalem as Capital of Israel and also shifted the US Embassy there. This US decision changed mindset of the ruling Junta of Israel and encouraged it to evict Palestinians from Jerusalem.

Since the United States paved way for Israel to continue annexation and construction of settlements on occupied territories, it will have to stop Israel from bombing Gaza, announce immediate truce, and sit down on negotiation table to work out details of modus operandi for establishing working relations with state of Palestine.