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Historic meeting discusses cooperation between Israel and Arab countries

 
Historic meeting discusses cooperation between Israel and Arab countries

Foreign ministers at the meeting in Sde Boker, Israel on March 28, 2022. (Photo: AFP/VNA)   

NDO - Foreign Ministers of the United States, Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Morocco and Egypt had a historic meeting in the town of Sde Boker in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, to discuss cooperation between Israel and Arab countries.


This is the first high-level meeting since several Arab countries signed the Abraham Accords to normalise relations with Israel.

Organised based on the idea of ​​​​the Israeli Foreign Minister, the Negev meeting took place during the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the Middle East. As a mediator for Arab countries to normalise relations with Israel, the US also wants to use this meeting to strengthen its influence in the region.

An important content discussed at the meeting was promoting cooperation between Israel and the countries that signed the Abraham Accords. Egypt is not a party to the agreement but has normalised relations with Israel since the early 1980s.

The participants agreed to make the Negev meeting a regular forum, with the implication of forming a regional alliance. The US affirmed that it will continue to strongly support this process, showing the goodwill approach of President Joe Biden's administration to the Abraham Accords.

In his policy, Biden has continued to fulfil some of the US’s commitments, including the sale of F-35 fighter jets to its UAE ally. Regarding the Middle East peace process, the Biden administration has taken a radically opposite approach to that of its predecessor. That is why US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated at the Negev meeting that the Abraham Accords are not an alternative to the current conflict between Israel and Palestine.

The establishment of the Abraham Accords is seen as a betrayal of the Palestinians’ struggle for self-determination and basic rights. The agreement has been criticised as going against the policy of the Arab League, which has always linked the normalisation of relations with Israel to the issue of the establishment of a Palestinian state.

In addition to strengthening cooperation between countries participating in the Abraham Accords, the meeting focused on discussing the Iran nuclear issue. This was also a goal set by the US during Blinken’s Middle East tour, reassuring allies in the region about the Iran nuclear deal. Israel has been concerned thatif the Iran nuclear deal is restored, it will not help curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Moreover, countries in the region are also worried about the key ally, the US, pursuing a policy of reducing its engagement in the Middle East.

The US recently removed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the list of organisations considered by Washington to be terrorists. Therefore, through the Negev meeting, the US wants to send a message to its allies about maintaining Washington’s “security umbrella” throughout the region.

Despite being a historic meeting between the countries participating in the Abraham Accords, the issues raised at the Negev meeting were associated with important contents during the US Secretary of State’s Middle East trip. Therefore, the meeting was mainly symbolic of an alliance with a common interest in the Iranian nuclear issue.

Through this forum, the US once again affirmed that it will continue to work with its allies to deal with security challenges while strengthening the US position and influence in the Middle East region.


THAI THANH

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