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Planning sessions cover defence, tourism, food and water security ahead of second Negev foreign ministers’ forum in spring; Jordan is only Arab country absent from treaty with Israel
As the Abraham Accords well into its third year, officials from the four signatories to the landmark treaty – Israel, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco – gathered in the UAE on Monday with representatives of Egypt and the United States to discuss Key issues for the Middle East.
The two-day meeting in Abu Dhabi is a precursor to the second formal meeting of foreign ministers in Morocco, likely to take place in the spring.
“We have seen here the results of more than two years of work since the Abraham Accords,” Michal Schwartz of the Gulf states department at Israel’s foreign ministry told the media hotline on Monday.
Schwartz dismissed claims that recent tensions between Israel and the Arab world marred the summit over the visit of Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The UAE joined China in calling for a special meeting of the UN Security Council last week to discuss the visit.
“We’re in an ongoing process,” Schwartz said, adding that it’s “a very long process that’s not tied to any particular point in time.”
Here we see the results of more than two years of work since the Abraham Accords
She said the cooperation seen at the summit was aimed at “bringing stability to the entire region” and “I believe it is strong enough to achieve that.”
Still, Jordan, an Arab state that signed a peace deal with Israel, was absent from the meeting as it participates in the inaugural Negev Forum in March 2022 in its namesake Israeli desert.
Schwartz played down the absence of Israel’s eastern neighbor, saying “when Jordan decided to join, it had a seat at the table.”
In fact, she stressed, the Hashemite kingdom has had a place “from the beginning”.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Hayat told the media line that the gathering in Abu Dhabi was “very formal”.
“This is a historic event, nothing like it has been held since the Madrid conference,” Hayat said, referring to an international conference in the Spanish capital in 1991 aimed at cultivating Israeli and Palestinian participation. Pakistan peace talks. Palestinians as well as Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Hayat said the working groups were addressing issues of health, energy, education and tolerance, food and water security, tourism and regional security. Schwartz would not say whether Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which have long been a focus of concern for Israel and its Arab allies, are under discussion.
She said that, to her knowledge, Iran was not one of the subjects of regional security discussions, but reiterated that it was an ongoing process.
Participants from various countries gathered in Abu Dhabi on Monday and Tuesday will draw up a list of items covering six priority issues, which will then be presented to the six foreign ministers at their next meeting.
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