[ad_1]
For the United Arab Emirates, it was business as usual as the new government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately implemented hardline policies aimed at forcing the Palestinians to abandon the concept of an independent state and accept Israeli rule.
UAE expressly stated Welcoming the Israeli delegation to Abu Dhabi Security, energy, travel, education, tolerance and water security are discussed this week.
A 20-member delegation representing different ministries, led by Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alon Ushpiz, is in Abu Dhabi preparing for the second Negev summit scheduled to take place in Morocco in the spring.
The Israelis flew to the UAE capital days after Itamar Ben-Gvir, a hardliner in Mr Netanyahu’s cabinet, paid Provocative visit to the Temple Mount or Haram ash-Sharifis a holy place for Jews and Muslims, and the third holiest place in Islam.
The first summit of foreign ministers of the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Egypt and Israel was held last year in the Israeli Negev town of Sde Boker to identify joint initiatives.
Last week, four Arab countries condemned Mr Bengavir’s visit. The UAE joins China in asking the UN Security Council to discuss the visit; to postpone rather than cancel Mr Netanyahu’s visit to Abu Dhabi.
The UAE, Bahrain and Morocco established diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020, while Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a treaty with the Jewish state in 1979.
Talks start same day Israel Travel ban imposed on Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki, This shows that the UAE and others are just going through the motions by protesting, rather than telling Israel that there will be serious consequences.
Last month Mr Netanyahu formed a coalition of hardline nationalist and ultra-conservative religious parties government program This disenfranchises the Palestinians and could lead to the annexation of territories Israel captured during the 1967 Middle East war. It could also lead to the Judaization of parts of pre-1967 Israel that had significant Israeli-Palestinian communities.
The ban on Mr Maliki is package of sanctions This also includes confiscating taxes collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority and passing them on to Israeli victims of Palestinian violence, deducting from taxes the equivalent of payments to Palestinians accused of violence and their families; And freeze Palestinian construction in much of the West Bank.
Furthermore, Mr. Ben-Gvir, who oversees the Israeli police Prohibition of flying the Palestinian flag in public places “Identify you as a terrorist organization.”
Israel imposed the sanctions in retaliation for the U.N. General Assembly’s backing of Palestine’s request for an opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legality of Israel’s policies in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Al-Steyer has insisted that Palestinians have the right to oppose the occupation and has warned that the measures could lead to the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.
“Israel wants to prevent even the most non-violent way of fighting the occupation,” Mr Shytayyeh said.
Israel collects about $256 million a month in tariffs for services and goods provided by the authorities, but deducts $85 million in regular payments, commissions and payments by Palestinians to the families of prisoners deemed terrorists by the Jewish state .
Ms Shtayyeh said he would urge Arab states to fulfill their commitments to provide an economic safety net for the Palestinians. “Only Algeria is fulfilling its commitment to transfer $52 million per month,” Mr Shtayyeh said.
The Prime Minister may, as usual, try to exploit the UAE’s willingness to do business with Israel in order to obtain financial support as compensation. The question is whether the UAE and others will seek Palestinian political concessions in their dealings with the new Israeli government.
This will make things easier for Mr bin Zayed and other Arab leaders who are ready to continue to strengthen relations with Israel, despite the policies of the Netanyahu government and the UAE and Arab public opinion.
According to a recent survey, the popularity of relations with Israel has UAE and Bahrain plummet in the past two years.
In the UAE, support fell from 47% to 25%. In Bahrain, only 20% of the population support formal relations with Israel, down from 45% in 2020.
arabic fans showed their opposition to normalizing relations during last month’s World Cup in Qatar Refuses to interact with Israeli counterparts and refuses to be interviewed by Israeli media. At the same time, Qataris and some athletes, including the Moroccan national team, wore pro-Palestine armbands and waved Palestinian flags.
Public opinion is also reflected in tourism figuresOver 150,000 Israelis have flocked to the UAE in the 2.5 years since the UAE and Bahrain established diplomatic relations with Israel, but only 1,600 Emiratis have visited Israel since coronavirus travel restrictions were lifted last year.
Mr bin Zayed sees ties with Israel as a hedge against Iran, especially as he and other Arab leaders are uncertain about the reliability of the US as a regional security guarantor.
Furthermore, Mr. bin Zayed hopes to benefit from Israel’s technological prowess, positioning the UAE as a cutting-edge knowledge economy in the 21st century.
Finally, ties with Israel position the UAE as a beacon of Muslim moderation and earn bonus points with key segments of Western public opinion, including influential U.S. missionaries.
It was announced this week that the UAE will start teaching the holocaust Immediately praised by the Biden administration in history classes in elementary and middle schools across the country.
“Holocaust education is a human imperative that too many countries have long continued to downplay for political reasons. I applaud the UAE for taking this step and hope other countries will soon follow suit,” said the U.S. said Deborah E. Lipstadt, Special Envoy for Judaism. Ms Lipstadt was using the Hebrew word for “Holocaust”.
Dr. James M. Dorsey is an award-winning journalist and academic, adjunct senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, and author of a syndicated column and blog, The turbulent world of Middle Eastern football.
[ad_2]
Source link