UAE, Bahrain Welcome New Israeli Government

 Video Of The Week – Who is Naftali Bennett? - https://tinyurl.com/3cepy9fr

Historic normalization deals between Israel and 4 Arab nations were hallmark of Netanyahu  and Trump administrations; FM Lapid indicates eagerness to expand on ties

For the full article go to Times of Israel – By Toi Staff 15.6.2021 https://tinyurl.com/3cepy9fr

 The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on Monday welcomed the new Israeli government, indicating that the historic normalization deals forged by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Trump administration would flourish beyond the change in leadership.

UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed spoke Monday with new Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, discussing “mutual cooperation and Abrahamic Accords,” the Emirati Foreign Ministry said in a tweet.

“His Highness congratulated @yairlapid on his new term as Israel’s new FM,” it said.

“I had the great pleasure of speaking to the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates this evening and I look forward to working with him to build on the warm and unique relations between our two countries for the benefit of our peoples and the entire Middle East,” Lapid said.

Earlier, Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa issued a statement congratulating Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Lapid on the formation of a new government.

“The crown prince expresses his sincere wishes that the newly formed government will enhance development, stability, and peace in the region and the world,” the statement said.

The new government, an unlikely alliance of right-wing, left-wing, centrist, and Islamist parties, was sworn in on Sunday, ending Netanyahu’s 12-year term in office.

During Lapid’s first visit to the Foreign Ministry on Monday, he highlighted his diplomatic priorities, including building on the Abraham Accords that also saw Israel sign deals with Morocco and Sudan.

 “Part of our work will of course be to strengthen our presence in the region. Great things have happened this past year. We need to continue the development that started with the Abraham Accords. To work to strengthen the peace with the Gulf States, with Egypt and with Jordan,” Lapid said.

“We will work to sign agreements with more countries in the region and beyond. It’s a process, it won’t happen in a day, but the Foreign Ministry will coordinate those efforts,” he said, indicating a shift in the Israeli approach.

In recent years Israel’s efforts to expand its ties with the Arab world have largely been conducted by the Mossad.

Also Sunday, the Kan public broadcaster reported that talks are underway between Israel, the US, the UAE and Bahrain aimed at holding a ceremony in September to mark the one-year anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords.

It was not yet clear where the event will be held or whether the ceremony might be used to announce the addition of another country to the normalization circle.

Kan said the talks were conducted by outgoing foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi, who was part of the Blue and White party that is also part of the new government, indicating that the efforts will likely continue.

Lapid also specifically highlighted improving ties with neighboring Jordan, praising King Abdullah as “an important strategic ally,” and promising to work with him. Ties between Jerusalem and Amman were frigid at best over the last several years and Abdullah reportedly had little patience for Netanyahu.

But Lapid added that Israel’s relationship with the Palestinians will be a defining factor in the nation’s ties with other countries, likely referring to the sensitivity in the Arab and Muslim world surrounding the ongoing conflict.

 “We might not be expecting a final status agreement soon but there is a lot we can do to improve the lives of the Palestinians and the dialogue with them on civil issues,” he said. 

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Student Events to Promote Coexistence

 Video Of The Week- Historic Abulafia Bakery Promotes Peace - https://tinyurl.com/2dnyka9x 

March 18, 2021,

 For the full article go to https://tinyurl.com/m3b9mx89

 A series of online discussions were held by students to celebrate coexistence between Israel and its Arab neighbours, and counter the movement to boycott the Jewish state.

 Three virtual events in StandWithUS UK’s Peace Week 2021 programme featured leading Israeli and gulf politicians and activists, students from across the UK and representatives from the world of sport.

 Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Fleur Hassan Nahoum, spoke alongside fellow co-founder of the UAE-Israel Business Council, Thani Al-Shirawi, and Ahdeya Al Sayed, who is president of the Bahrain Journalists Association. The trio reflected on the groundbreaking Abraham Accords and subsequent peace agreements between Israel, Bahrain and the UAE.

 Al Sayed said: “Fake news has led to hatred, curriculums that have melted Israel off the map has led to hatred. You cannot just not recognise a whole country and be in the year 2021 and say that state does not exist.”

 Student leaders also hosted Israeli-Arab influencer, Yoseph Haddad, who spoke about his work as CEO of Together –Vouch for Each Other. He discussed his time in the army, saying: “It’s not a Jewish Defence Force, it’s an Israeli Defence Force. When we say Israel Defence Force, we mean that it defends all of Israeli society.”

 The role of sport in building bridges also came into sharp focus, with high-profile guests discussing how football can be a force for good. Tamar Hay Sagiv, Director of the Peace Education Department at the Peres Centre spoke about coexistence and the significance of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism. Tamar was joined by Rola Brentlin, Head of Special Projects at Chelsea Football Club, Ronit Glasman, the Head of Marketing at the Israel Football Association and the Peres Centre’s Field Director, an alum of their prestigious programme, Sa’ad Barhoum.

 Barhoum said: “To talk about difficult things, as an Arab, as a Palestinian, and as an Arab-Israeli, wherever. It was the place where we can sit and talk and get out and laugh and everything is okay. It was more than football and I knew I was going to do it till the last day of my life.”

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Israel and Sudan to Normalise Ties

 Video Of The Week -Israel and Sudan Normalise Ties - https://tinyurl.com/y3o2rnxp

For the full article go to - https://tinyurl.com/y4fryba4

 Israel and Sudan agree to normalization of relations between the countries and to end state of belligerence between them

 US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that Sudan will normalize ties with Israel, becoming the third Arab country to do so in recent months, after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

 During a call with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Sovereign Council president General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and civilian leader and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, Trump brought reporters into the Oval Office and announced, “The state of Israel and the Republic of Sudan have agreed to make peace.” “It’s peace in the Middle East without bloodshed,” Trump added.

 The President indicated that at least five additional countries want to join in a peace deal with Israel.

 Netanyahu told Trump, “We are expanding the circle of peace so rapidly with your leadership. Trump responded by saying, “There are many, many more coming.”

 "The leaders agreed to the normalization of relations between Sudan and Israel and to end the state of belligerence between their nations," said a subsequent joint statement issued by the three countries.

 The statement added that Sudan’s transitional government has “demonstrated its courage and commitment to combating terrorism, building its democratic institutions, and improving its relations with its neighbors.”

 As a result, “the United States and Israel agreed to partner with Sudan in its new start and ensure that it is fully integrated into the international community,” it continued.

 A signing ceremony is expected to be held at the White House in coming weeks, said officials quoted by Reuters.

 "Today Khartoum says yes to peace with Israel, yes to recognition of Israel and yes to normalization with Israel," he added.

 “This follows on Sudan’s recent agreement to resolve certain claims of United States victims of terror and their families. Yesterday, in fulfillment of that agreement, the transitional government of Sudan transferred $335 million into an escrow account for these victims and their families,” the statement said.

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Arabs: «Palestinians Repeat the Same Mistakes»

 Video Of The Week- Kuwaiti TV Host: Palestinian Historic Mistake - https://tinyurl.com/y6o7tqcw

 By Khaled Abu Toameh   21-09-2020

For the full article go to - https://tinyurl.com/yydr2fpl

 The Palestinians have recalled their ambassadors to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in protest of the signing of the peace deals between the two Gulf states and Israel. The Palestinians are now threatening to withdraw their envoys from any Arab country that follows suits and establishes relations with Israel.

In addition, several Palestinian factions have urged the Palestinian leadership to withdraw from the Arab League to protest the refusal of the Arab countries to condemn normalization with Israel. Earlier this month, the Arab League foreign ministers refused to endorse a Palestinian draft resolution condemning the UAE for its decision to make peace with Israel.

«The resolutions of the Arab League are mortgaged to the Zionist American administration,» the factions said in a statement. «Normalization [with Israel] is a huge betrayal of the Palestinian issue and a stab to the sacrifices and pain of the Palestinians and Arabs.»

The threats to pull out from the Arab League and withdraw Palestinian ambassadors from Arab countries that establish relations with Israel have sparked mockery and a flurry of critical comments in the Arab world, particularly the Gulf states. The main theme of the criticism: The Palestinian do not learn from their mistakes.

The Arab criticism, directed mostly against the leaders of the Palestinians, is yet another indication of the growing antagonism between the Palestinians and the Arab world. At this pace, Palestinians might wake up one morning to discover that they no longer have any friends in the Arab countries at all.

Many Arabs are outraged by the Palestinian threats, as well as the daily attacks on the UAE and Bahrain. These include accusations that the two Gulf states have «betrayed Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem and the Palestinian issue» by agreeing to establish relations with Israel. The Arabs are also reminding the Palestinians of the many opportunities they missed when they rejected a number of peace initiatives and plans.

Lebanese journalist Khairallah Khairallah expressed outrage over the Palestinians’ labelling of the signing ceremony of the Israel-UAE-Bahrain deals at the White House as a «black day.»

«The Palestinian leaders are refusing to learn from past experiences. The Palestinian armed organizations have repeated Jordan’s experience in Lebanon. They played a role in destroying Lebanon [during the civil war]. Would the Palestinian issue have benefited had the Palestinian organizations managed in 1970 to overthrow King Hussein?»

«It was expected that Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] would have learned from the mistakes of Yasser Arafat and from the mistakes of the experiences of Jordan and Lebanon, but he took the worst of Yasser Arafat. Half a century after what Palestinians call ‘Black September,’ nothing has changed. The Palestinians still have the ability to make the same mistakes.» (Al-Arab, September 20, 2020)

Saudi political analyst Sami al-Morshid pointed out that the Palestinian leadership has in the past rejected several peace initiatives and treaties. Each time the Palestinians do this, al-Morshid said, «they lose.»

«Unfortunately, Palestinian leaders, repeat the same mistakes. They rejected the Egyptian and Jordan peace initiatives [with Israel], and they rejected US President Bill Clinton’s peace initiative [at the 2000 Camp David summit]. These days, they reject President Donald Trump’s peace initiative and, finally, they reject the peace initiatives of the UAE and Bahrain.» 

Iraqi writer Farouk Youssef said that the Palestinians’ problem is that their leaders do not want a Palestinian state. «The Palestinians failed to establish their state,» Youssef remarked.

‘They failed because they did not want to establish a state. Here I mean the political leaders, some of whom still insist on repeating revolutionary phrases. The establishment of a Palestinian state will be a burden on the Palestinian leaders and will prevent them from practicing corruption. The Palestinians need to realize that the others were tired. The Authority is no longer suitable to represent the Palestinian people.» (Al-Arabiya, September 19, 2020)

Saudi writer Yusef al-Qabalan also accused Palestinian leaders of repeatedly rejecting peace initiatives over the past few decades. Noting that the Palestinians had failed to take advantage of the Arab Peace Initiative, adopted in 2002 by the Arab leaders, al-Qabalan wrote:

«The realistic choice for the Palestinian leaders was to activate that Arab initiative in all political ways at the international level. What happened? The Palestinian leaders met the peace initiatives with rhetoric of betrayal and slogans that do not achieve anything on the ground. The Palestinian leaders turned to the traffickers of their issue, such as Iran, Turkey and Qatar and lost their strongest card, which is national unity. Palestinian leaders failed to invest in opportunities. They failed to take strategic decisions and chose [instead] to forge an alliance with Iran.» (Al-Riyadh, September 18, 2020)

UAE Islamic cleric Wassem Yousef, addressing the Palestinians and other Arabs who reject peace with Israel, wrote on Twitter:

«Israel did not destroy Syria; Israel did not burn Libya; Israel did not displace the people of Egypt; Israel did not destroy Libya, and Israel did not tear up Lebanon. Before you Arabs blame Israel, take a look at yourselves in the mirror. The problem is in you.»

Palestinian leaders, meanwhile, are ignoring the messages and advice from their Arab brothers. The Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip do not like to be reminded of their mistakes. Moreover, they are unwilling to accept any advice, even when it comes from Arab states that used to pour billions of dollars on them. The biggest losers, of course, are again the Palestinians — who are quickly losing the sympathy of a growing number of Arabs.

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Israel, Bahrain foreign ministers hold first public meeting in US

Video Of The Week - PALESTINIAN APARTHEID- https://tinyurl.com/y3aje236

Full article -  AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES - https://tinyurl.com/yyar8v66

According to an Israeli foreign ministry statement the two leaders discussed 'Iran and regional threats'.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Thursday announced that he had met his Bahrain counterpart publicly during a visit to Washington, DC the first meeting between the two countries that do not have diplomatic relations.

"Yesterday I met publicly with the Foreign Minister of Bahrain" Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Katz said in a tweet.

Referring to Benjamin Netanyahu, Katz added: "I will continue to work with (the Israeli Prime Minister) to advance Israel's relations with the Gulf countries."

Israel has diplomatic relations with only two Arab countries - Egypt and Jordan - but common concerns over Iran have brought it closer to Gulf nations in recent years.

According to an Israeli Foreign Ministry statement, the "meeting was coordinated behind the scenes by the US State Department as part of a conference on religious liberty organised in Washington by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo".

The two men "addressed the subject of Iran and regional threats as well as cooperation between states and agreed to continue...," it added.

Gulf Arab nations have increasingly found common cause with Israel due to their shared hostility towards Iran. Tehran is accused of wanting to extend its influence in the region and of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Last month, Bahrain hosted a conference to discuss what the US has described as the economic part of President Donald Trump's "deal of the century", his proposal for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The meeting comes at a time of mounting tensions in the Gulf region between the United States and Iran which has been slapped with a raft of sanctions by the Trump administration.

On Thursday, the US military shot down an Iranian drone on that came within 1,000 yards (914 metres) of one of its naval vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said.

Last week, a British warship in the Gulf warned off armed Iranian boats that tried to stop a UK supertanker. London has since announced the deployment of two more warships to the Gulf region for the coming months.

The US's largest naval base in the Middle East is located in Bahrain.

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