Hostage Families Demands is Music to Hamas

In a press conference on Sunday morning, the October Council—consisting of hostages’ families, bereaved relatives of Oct. 7 victims and mothers of reservists read statements aloud conveyed a uniform message to the powers-that-be in Jerusalem: End the war and bring home all the hostages. Their plea for a deal to return the captives held by Hamas for the past 22 months isn’t new.

On the contrary, accusing the government of pursuing its goals in Gaza at the expense of the hostages has become a protest-movement mantra that every Israeli knows by heart and it’s a narrative backed by the mainstream Israeli media and embraced by Hamas.

Former political/military officials whose hatred for Bibi outweighs any vestige of patriotism they once possessed go even further. They’re perpetuating the lie, spread by the Jewish state’s most virulent enemies, that Israel is guilty of war crimes also embraced by Hamas

Again, nothing novel about the noxious noise that’s music to Hamas’s ears. Ditto for the call to paralyze the economy via the revival of the general-strike idea.

But the current attempt to pressure the premier into meeting unreasonable demands came on the heels of the announcement that Israel would be taking over Gaza City. The Cabinet approved the plan after a 10-hour session, during which ministers debated among themselves and with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir about how to proceed in the face of a failed “negotiation” process with Hamas.  

The upshot was a diluted version of the original proposal to take military control of the entire Strip. Nevertheless, the protest movement went into high gear, hysterically citing a leaked statement attributed to Zamir—that the operation would result in the death of the hostages and hundreds of soldiers.

There’s no concrete evidence that Zamir actually expressed such a sentiment. In fact he publicly stated that the Israel Defense Forces under his command would implement with vigor the course of action agreed upon by the political echelon.

This isn’t the reason that the Histadrut labor federation, which represents some 800,000 Israeli trade unionists, isn't endorsing the strike, however. No, it supports the protest movement in principle. This also is music to Hamas’s ears.

But the general strike it staged last September to pressure the government to reach a ceasefire deal with Hamas did little more than disrupt the lives of Israelis in a way that wasn’t helpful to the cause.

Aside from that, it turns out that the bulk of the workforce under the Histadrut umbrella is on vacation until the end of August. As for the hi-tech sector, which has said it will join the strike: One employee in that sector quipped that Sundays are very light on the keyboard in any case, so techies staying home on Aug. 17 will hardly be affected.

In an interesting twist, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum hasn’t lent its support to the event—or at least not yet. Perhaps its leadership was waiting to hear what Netanyahu had to say to the foreign press on Sunday afternoon, and later that evening to the Hebrew-language media, before settling on a strategy.

Speaking to journalists, Netanhahu said was that he was done with the “drips and drabs”—that he was aiming for the release of all 20 of the hostages. This was a reference to the captives who are still alive.

Still, the fear that the intention to defeat rather than deal with Hamas could easily be sidetracked wasn’t baseless. It stemmed, among other reasons, from reports of a meeting on Saturday in Ibiza, Spain between U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani. Not a good sign.

To make matters more suspicious—or precarious—the Qatari news outlet Al Araby Al Jadeed, said that a delegation of Hamas leaders landed in Egypt on Monday to resume “ceasefire talks” where they left off. You know, with Hamas basking in the global campaign blaming Israel for a fake famine on Gaza, while refusing to release the hostages whose actual starvation it’s been filming for added torture. Just as it video-documented the atrocities it committed on Oct, 7, 2023—for the whole world to see. And conveniently forget.

When did cutting off one’s own nose ever succeed in spiting his foe’s face? The answer is that the protest movement considers Netanyahu a greater enemy than Hamas. Its prominent members have gone so far as to admit it, loudly and proudly and this is music to Hamas’s ears.

 (Based on article by Ruthie Blum at https://tinyurl.com/ynm3m637  )

Unity between Israel and the Iranian People

Video Of The Week - Present Day Israel 2023 - https://tinyurl.com/yc8mz8zz

For the full Article from the JPost go to - https://tinyurl.com/mpen7ssd

Reza Pahlavi's trip underscores Israel’s message of unity with the Iranian people.

I am traveling to Israel to deliver a message of friendship from the Iranian people, engage Israeli water experts on ways to address the regime’s abuse of Iran’s natural resources and pay respects to the victims of the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah.

 

I want the people of Israel to know that the Islamic Republic does not represent the Iranian people. The ancient bond between our people can be rekindled for the benefit of both nations. I’m going to Israel to play my role in building toward that brighter future.

Israel and Iran can have a prosperous future said Reza Pahlavi — the son of the deposed Iranian Shah —as he and his wife Yakima made their first-ever visit to Israel on Monday night.

“We are very happy to be here and are dedicated to working toward the peaceful [and] prosperous future that the people of our region deserve,” he tweeted on landing in Ben-Gurion Airport where he was greeted by Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel who had arranged his visit.

“From the children of Cyrus, to the children of Israel, we will build this future together, in friendship,” Pahlavi tweeted.

His trip underscores Israel’s message of unity with the Iranian people given that the two nations have a historic relationship that continued with the modern state and was destroyed only in 1979 during the Islamic revolution that thrust Pahlavi’s father Mohammed out of power.

The Islamic Republic has since treated Israel as an enemy nation and has threatened to annihilate it, a goal which has caused Israeli leaders to view it as an existential threat akin to that which the Jews faced from Nazi Germany. Iranian leaders are also among those who have denied that the Holocaust occurred.

To counter that image, Pahlavi went directly from Ben-Gurion Airport to the national Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at Yad Vashem.

“It is especially meaningful for me to be here on #YomHaShoah, Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day. Today, I join Holocaust survivors and their families at @yadvashem to help keep the memory of Holocaust victims alive. As author Elie Wiesel said, without memory there is no hope.”

At the end of the ceremony Pahlavi stood for Israel's national anthem and then met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sarah.

Gamliel said that Pahlavi was “the most senior Iranian personality to ever come to a public visit to Israel. We appreciate the Crown Prince's expression of solidarity with the citizens of Israel in the face of the severe terrorist attacks perpetrated by Iran.” 

She added that was also grateful for his visit to Yad Vashem “in order to sympathize with the Jewish people, in contrast to Iran's rulers who deny the Holocaust and encourage antisemitism. Together, through a common vision, we will take the first step in building bridges and collaborations between the two peoples.”

Prior to his arrival Pahlavi wrote of his visit, “I want the people of Israel to know that the Islamic Republic does not represent the Iranian people. The ancient bond between our people can be rekindled for the benefit of both nations.”

As part of his itinerary, he will meet with Israeli officials and visit the Western Wall and the Bahaii Gardens in Haifa.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani was dismissive when asked about the trip at his weekly press conference.

"Neither the person you've mentioned (Reza Pahlavi), the purpose of this trip, nor the place he wants to travel to are worthy of discussion," he said.

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Vaccine Success in a Small Country

Video Of The Week - Israel Wins Worldwide Praise for Vaccination Program - https://tinyurl.com/y44fp3ls

Anshel Pfeffer, 03- 1- 2021, The Sunday Times https://tinyurl.com/y5dsjqho

The almost deserted street outside the Misgav Ladach hospital in western Jerusalem belies the intense operation going on inside.

 Every other minute, an elderly person or couple, quietly walk in, swipe their electronic card and take a seat in a corridor on the ground floor. A supervisor checks them off on a clipboard and, within minutes, they are sitting in one of the six curtained booths, baring their arms for the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. 

Within minutes they are out, with an appointment, three weeks hence, for their second jab.

“I was a bit sceptical at first about being vaccinated,” says Kenneth Cohen, a retired rabbi from Jerusalem. “Two of my daughters said that there may be side-effects. But my brother had his vaccine last week and felt fine, so I guessed that since we both have the same DNA, I’d be fine. I didn’t even need an appointment.”

As the sun set on Friday afternoon and the Jewish Shabbat began, more than a million Israelis had received their first dose of Pfizer’s vaccine, in a drive that began less than two weeks earlier. That is more than 11% of Israel’s population of nine million, the highest proportion of any country yet to be vaccinated. In Britain, which was the first to begin vaccinations, only 1.5% have received their first jab.

The atmosphere now in vaccine centres across Israel is businesslike. But in the earlier days, there were ecstatic scenes. Most of those receiving vaccines so far are over 60 and have been sheltering at home for long, lonely months.

“At first, many people coming in were so moved at the thought that they could soon be with their families that we had incredible scenes,” says Yael Nitzan, normally manager of the hospital’s sleep lab but now supervisor of the vaccination centre. “Some of the old people started singing. One 80-year-old woman wanted me to dance with her.”

One million Israelis vaccinated in world-leading drive

One of the nurses, Manal Abu-Rhami, said: “I’ve had patients asking me if they could give me a hug. I had to tell them that it will take time for the vaccine to take effect and that they still have to be careful and avoid contact with others for a while yet.”

 Every two hours, a refrigerated van parks outside and a courier arrives with a blue padded carrier. Inside is a flat cardboard container. Within are further layers of padding and a small tray of glass vials with purple tops, containing the vaccine. They are placed in a fridge.

 The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is stored at deep sub-zero temperatures and once a tray has been removed from storage, the doses need to be used within a few hours.

 While Israel has prioritised those over 60 for the first phase, often, towards the end of the day, vaccine centres will have dozens, even hundreds, of doses still in hand. As word quickly gets around on social media, younger Israelis gather in the hope of getting an early jab.

 How has Israel, which does not manufacture the vaccine and has so far flown them in from Pfizer’s manufacturing hub in Belgium, become the world leader in vaccination?

 Israel is a relatively small country, with strong, centralised hubs that allow quick transport from the main store, near Ben Gurion airport in the centre of the country. The Israeli army has also provided refrigerated lorries.

 Then there are the health maintenance organisations (HMOs). Israelis enjoy free healthcare but, unlike in Britain where there is one HMO, the National Health Service, Israel has four public HMOs that compete for members and government funding.

 “The internal competition gives Israel a dramatic advantage now,” says Eyal Gabai, chairman of the Meuhedet HMO. “Since our budgets are determined by our ability to attract new members and keep those we already have, each HMO is constantly looking at what the others are doing, copying each other and looking for better ways to make services more accessible. That’s why every Israeli now has complete online access to all their medical files and can book video consultations with their doctors. And we all have nationwide networks of clinics, so every Israeli lives very near one.

 “The moment the vaccines arrived in the country, each HMO has been working to be the one who can get as many of its members vaccinated, as quickly and easily as possible.”

 The success of the vaccine drive is in stark contrast to other aspects of Israel’s handling of the pandemic. The country is in the midst of its third nationwide lockdown, due to spiraling rates of infection and hospitalisations — though across the country, many citizens seem to be ignoring the lockdown and travelling and socialising nearly as normal.

 Israel is now expected to have a surplus of vaccine doses, due to the orders it has placed with multiple manufacturers. At some point, public health experts believe, it will supply some of these to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza, which has yet to begin vaccinating Palestinian citizens.

 There is also a political angle to the vaccination drive. Israel originally signed on with the two other large pharmaceutical companies developing vaccines — Moderna and AstraZeneca. But when it turned out that Pfizer would be the first to have a tested vaccine on the market, the government entered negotiations with Pfizer, agreeing to pay a much higher price to ensure early shipments of four million doses.

 Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, was involved in the negotiations, speaking on the phone with Pfizer’s chief executive, Albert Bourla, and directing the Treasury to pay a premium. Netanyahu was at the airport to greet the first shipment. The next day he became the first Israeli to receive the vaccine. Since then he has visited a vaccination centre nearly every day, always accompanied by television crews.

 Israel is heading for another parliamentary election, its fourth in under two years, and Netanyahu’s ruling party, Likud, whose government has so far been blamed for haphazard handling of the pandemic, has been trailing in the polls. His campaign is based on portraying him as the man who saved Israel from Covid-19, by vaccinating its people before any other nation. And if the current rates hold up, a majority of Israelis will have received their vaccines just in time for election day on March 23.

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Peace With Saudi Arabia??

 Video Of The Week - Netanyahu with Pompeo in Saudi Arabia - https://tinyurl.com/yx8fmq7a

 From JP 23-11-2020 by Iahav Harkov

 For the full article go to- https://tinyurl.com/y573a9d9

 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Neom, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, Israeli sources have confirmed.

 Netanyahu, along with Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat and Netanyahu’s Military Secretary Avi Bluth, used a private plane belonging to businessman Udi Angel, which the prime minister has used for past diplomatic trips. The plane left Israel at 5 p.m. on Sunday and returned after midnight.

 The Israeli and Saudi sides discussed Iran and normalization, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a senior Saudi adviser.

Netanyahu said in a Likud faction meeting that “for years, [he] never commented on these matters and will not start now. For years, I have spared no effort in strengthening Israel and expanding the circle of peace.”

 Still, Education Minister Yoav Gallant confirmed that the meeting in Saudi Arabia took place, calling it an “amazing achievement” and “a matter of great importance” in an interview with Army Radio.

 Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan denied that the crown prince met with Israeli officials during the meeting with Pompeo, saying, “the only officials present were American and Saudi.” However, he did not deny that any meeting between MBS and Netanyahu took place.

 Farhan’s denial is likely a reflection of Saudi King Salman’s continued reticence to make his country’s warming ties with Israel official.

US President Donald Trump mentioned the possibility that Saudi Arabia would join the Abraham Accords Israel signed with other Gulf states in recent months, but reports came out immediately afterward of a generational divide, with the 84-year-old king remaining loyal to the traditional Saudi position – that peace with a Palestinian state must come before normalization with Israel – while the 35-year-old crown prince supports open ties with the Jewish state.

 The trip was kept tightly under wraps in Israel as it was being planned for more than a month, and neither Defense Minister Benny Gantz nor Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi were informed before it took place. IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi was also uninformed, though Netanyahu’s military secretary did participate in the meeting.

 On Sunday, however, Prince Faisal told Reuters that normalization with Israel would only come after “a permanent and comprehensive peace agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis including the establishment of a Palestinian state on 1967 borders.”

The minister said his country has “supported normalization with Israel for a long time,” pointing out that they authored the Saudi Peace Initiative that would have the Arab world establish ties with Israel in exchange for their vision of a two-state solution.

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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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Will Israel Keep a Low Profile?

Video Of The Week - Israel Braces for Possible Iranian Retaliation -  https://tinyurl.com/yz3tm4yw

Iran’s dramatic announcement that it no longer intends to honor its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers could soon revive discussions in Israel over a possible military strike on Iranian targets.

While Israel has kept a low profile since the US killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani last Friday, it will be difficult to remain on the sidelines if Iran follows through on its pledge to step away from the nuclear accord. Israel, a fierce critic of the agreement, accuses Iran of trying to develop a nuclear weapon and has repeatedly said it will not allow that to happen, even if that requires a risky military strike.

Israel is widely believed to possess its own arsenal of nuclear warheads, but neither confirms nor denies it.

The US-led nuclear deal, which restricted Iran’s atomic activities in exchange for relief from sanctions, put any talk of Israeli military action into deep freeze. But that all changed Sunday when Iran, protesting Soleimani’s killing, said it would no longer honor the limits on uranium enrichment and other nuclear research spelled out in the deal.

Iran denies it is seeking a nuclear bomb and says its activities are for peaceful purposes only.

Israeli officials had no immediate response to the Iranian announcement, although last month, with the nuclear accord already unraveling, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that Israel remained ready to take military action as a “last resort” to prevent Iran from developing an atomic bomb.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly meeting with his inner security cabinet on Monday to discuss the latest developments.

Yoel Guzansky, an analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies, an Israeli think tank, said the Iranian announcement puts the region in a delicate moment.

On one hand, he noted that Iran is only talking about its intention to abandon the deal and has not taken any action. “They’re still cautious,” said Guzansky, who is a former adviser on Iranian affairs in the prime minister’s office.

On the other hand, he said that a failure by the US and other world powers to spell out their “red lines” risks encouraging Iran to press forward and potentially put it on a collision course with Israel.

“Where is the US? Where are the Chinese, the Russians, the Europeans? Their voices are not being heard,” he said. Without spelling out their limits, he said Iran could move “very close, much closer to a bomb” in the coming year.

Former prime minister Ehud Barak has said that Israel came close to attacking Iran in the early 2010s while he was defense minister, but ultimately backed down. Such a move would risk not only the pilots and troops sent on a difficult mission in a far-off land. It also could unleash a war that could quickly engulf the region.

Israel has long considered Iran its greatest enemy, with suspicions about Iran’s nuclear intentions at the top of its concerns.

But Israel has a long list of other grievances against Iran. Among them are Iran’s support for hostile proxy groups, especially the powerful Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon, as well as Iran’s military presence in neighboring Syria.

In recent years, Israel has struck a number of Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria, in many cases to prevent the transfers of “game changing” weapons, such as precision-guided missiles, to Hezbollah. Soleimani, the longtime commander of Iran’s expeditionary Quds Force, was seen as the mastermind of these efforts and topped Israel’s most-wanted list.

While Netanyahu put out a brief statement praising US President Donald Trump for ordering the airstrike, Israel has otherwise remained quiet, apparently in fear of escalating an already volatile situation. With Iran vowing retaliation, Israel has stepped up security at diplomatic installations overseas and its forces remain on their standard high alert along the northern borders with Syria and Lebanon.

Yet it is no secret that Israel sees the death of its arch-enemy’s top general as a watershed moment.

In Israeli eyes, the airstrike restored much-needed US credibility, which many felt was eroded by Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from the region and his lack of responses to previous Iranian actions. Israeli defense strategy hinges heavily on close military ties with the US.

“This was a big strategic miracle. Suddenly, we are no longer on our own,” wrote Alex Fishman, military commentator for the Yediot Ahronot daily.

For now, there seems to be a consensus among analysts that the death of Soleimani dealt a tough short-term blow, and the odds of retaliation against Israeli targets are low. Iran’s main objective right now is to mete out revenge against the US, and it has has little incentive to open another front, the thinking goes. But there remains great uncertainty about whether there will be any long-term benefits.

“With all due caution, it can be said that it appears that Iran will not initiate a direct clash with Israel in the foreseeable future,” Giora Eiland, a former Israeli national security adviser, wrote in the Yediot Ahronot daily Monday.

He said Iran is “liable to decide on an aggressive course of action” if it meets one of three goals: acquiring nuclear weapons, deepening its presence in Syria or succeeding in transferring guided missiles to Hezbollah.

“The Israeli side is making a great effort to prevent these exact three things, and with a fair degree of success up until now,” he said.

Little is known about Soleimani’s successor and longtime deputy, Esmail Ghaani. Iran also shows no signs of moderating the policies that Soleimani carried out at the behest of the country’s leaders in Tehran.

Raz Zimmt, a former military intelligence officer now at the INSS think tank, said it may be “wishful thinking” to expect Soleimani’s death to create great opportunities for Israel.

“Yes, Iran is weaker today than it used to be two or three days ago,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean that Iran is going to change.”

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Israel’s Budding Relationship With Group of Arab States

Video Of The Week  Danger! - No entrance for Jews - https://tinyurl.com/y4o92cwz

The Algemeiner - by Roie Yellinek – 26-08-2019

For the full article go to - https://tinyurl.com/y4znz38r

Though it is largely motivated by mutual concerns about surging Iranian imperialism, the strengthening of Israel’s relationship with the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) monarchies could ultimately help reignite the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Since the establishment of the State of Israel, most Arab states have refused to grant it any form of recognition. It was not until March 1979 that Egypt breached this rejectionist wall by signing a peace treaty with the Jewish state, with Jordan following suit in 1994. The rest of the Arab world remained uniformly hostile to the idea of any warming of relations with Israel.

Recent events indicate, however, that this monolithic hostility may be on the wane. Developments over the past year suggest that there may be a future in which Arab states and Israel can engage in diplomatic and security cooperation, and reduce their mutual animosity.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), in a meeting with leaders of Jewish communities in the US in April, said in response to Hamas’ year-long violent clashes along the Gaza-Israel border fence: “The Palestinians need to accept [Trump’s] proposal or stop complaining.” Later, in an interview in The Atlantic, he acknowledged the right of the Jewish people to their own country and land.

In May, cyclist teams from Bahrain and the UAE participated in the Giro d’Italia cycling competition, which was held in Israel. In July, an Israeli delegation participated in UNESCO’s annual international conference in Bahrain. Last October, Minister of Culture and Sport Miri Regev visited Abu Dhabi for the Grand Slam World Tour. Then, Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu visited Muscat, the capital of Oman.

The day after Netanyahu’s visit, Omani Minister of Foreign Affairs called on GCC members to recognize Israel. On November 6, Israeli Minister of Intelligence and Transportation Yisrael Katz visited Oman to attend an international conference on transportation, and was greeted with a heavily publicized formal diplomatic greeting. In December, Israel hosted a delegation of 30 Muslim clerics from Bahrain to participate in religious discourse. Last year also saw the establishment of Dubai’s first synagogue.

The Israeli delegation’s participation in UNESCO’s annual international conference in Bahrain took place after Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa gave a speech at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, in which he condemned the Arab boycott of Israel and publicly declared that Bahrain’s citizens are allowed to visit Israel. Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, tweeted that Israel has the right to protect itself after Iran’s violation of the local status quo. These statements by prominent Arab figures about Israel are nearly unprecedented.

The visit in October by Netanyahu and the director of the Mossad to Muscat. The last time an Israeli premier publicly met with a leader of an Arab country that does not maintain formal ties with Israel was in April 1994, when Yitzhak Rabin met with Qaboos. Netanyahu’s visit was lauded by Saudi Arabia, Oman’s highly influential neighbor. Riyadh’s role in coordinating the visit lent it historical significance.

The rapprochement developing between Israel and the GCC states has prompted a rare unity between Hamas and Fatah, with both making official statements rejecting any rapprochement until their demands from the international community and Israel are fully met.

The refusal of some GCC leaders to allow the state of Israeli-Palestinian relations to dictate when relations with Israel should move forward is first and foremost a corollary of Iran’s rising security threat to the GCC (and, of course, to Israel). Still, both the Palestinians and the Israelis may eventually benefit from this rapidly warming relationship.

Concern over the Iranian threat has been a core element of relations between Israel and the GCC for many years; indeed, it was discussed by Qaboos and Rabin when they met in 1994. Iran is now even more aggressively offensive vis-à-vis Israel, the US, and neighboring Arab states, as can be seen in its engagements in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen via paramilitary militias. To face this challenge and defend themselves, Iran’s neighbors seek to cooperate more closely.

Cooperation among the US, Israel, and the GCC monarchies against Tehran’s actions includes several elements: condemning Iran in the international arena and institutions, intelligence sharing, tracking economic activity, and coordinating other confidential security aspects.

It is important to recall that even if GCC leaders are positive about improving ties with Israel and have decided the Palestinian problem is no longer a roadblock, their local populations still feel animosity toward Israel. Public opinion is not yet interested in changing the relationship. One indicator of that resistance to change can be seen in an informal survey conducted by the Israel Foreign Ministry, which showed that public opinion in the Arab world was more hostile toward Israel during the last cycle of military escalation in Gaza than in similar previous conflagrations.

It seems that without any progress (or even a semblance of progress) in the dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians, the GCC states and Israel will be unable to establish official ties. The international community should assist the GCC and Israel in expanding their cooperation against Iranian imperialism, and then use the budding relationship to help the Palestinians and Israelis find a solution.

The most recent development in the Israel-GCC interface was the economic summit that took place on June 25-26 in Manama, the capital of Bahrain. The summit’s main object was to launch the economic aspect of President Trump’s “Deal of the Century,” and its location was chosen with care so as to send the message that the cooperation among the US, the Gulf states, and Israel is strong, and that the sides are all working toward closer collaboration.

The summit could only take place after the granting of Saudi approval, as the kingdom is Bahrain’s most important patron. The summit signaled to the Palestinians that assistance greater than that received from Iran and/or Qatar will only be given to them if they adopt the peace plan. Riyadh wants to be seen, both internally and externally, as a power that is working for the benefit of its Sunni Palestinian brethren and in opposition to Shiite Iran and the Qataris, who have been funding Hamas on a monthly basis for the past year.

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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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