On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said he believes Saudi Arabia could be among the “7, 8 or 9” nations set to normalise ties with Israel “soon.” Last week, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir indicated that there would be no normalisation, absent “a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue.”
Saudi Arabia may join its Persian Gulf neighbours in normalising relations with Tel Aviv, Mossad spy agency chief Yossi Cohen has indicated.
Commenting on the US-facilitated Abraham Accords between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which were signed in a formal ceremony in Washington on Tuesday, Cohen described them as “the breaking of a glass ceiling that existed in our relations with Arab states”.
The UAE and Bahrain became just the third and fourth Arab states, and the first and second Arab countries in the Persian Gulf region, to sign a peace deal with Israel since the country’s creation in 1948. Before that, Egypt signed a US-facilitated peace deal with Tel Aviv in 1979, and Jordan signed a peace treaty with the Israelis in 1994.
The spy chief also pointed to the role of the Arab sheikdoms’ animosity toward Iran in improving the prospects of establishing ties with Israel. “You must build a system of mutual trust between us and them…Trust, that we are here for them and they are here for us, together against all these threats,” he said.
Commenting on the UAE and Bahrain’s decision to improve relations with Israel despite the wishes of Palestinians, who described their actions as a “betrayal” akin to being “stabbed in the back”, Cohen said he felt “that both Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, the UAE in general, chose their longer-term interests”.
(L-R)Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump, and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan participate in the signing of the Abraham Accords where the countries of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recognize Israel, at the White House in Washington, DC, September 15, 2020. – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the foreign ministers of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates arrived September 15, 2020 at the White House to sign historic accords normalizing ties between the Jewish and Arab states.
Globetrotting Spymaster
Cohen secretly spoke to Bahraini Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa in the weeks prior to the country’s announcement that it would be joining the UAE in normalising relations with Tel Aviv. Before that, Israeli media reported that he personally facilitated and took part in a clandestine visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the UAE in 2018 to help that country get onboard with the idea of a peace deal.
Earlier this year, Cohen reportedly flew to Egypt and Qatar, again in secret, and made contact with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States, to discuss Israeli plans to ‘apply sovereignty’ to large chunks of Palestinian territory in the West Bank. That move has been at least temporarily shelved since the signing of the Abraham Accords, although Netanyahu has indicated that the postponement would not be permanent.
On Tuesday, President Trump said he expected Riyadh to follow Abu Dhabi, Manama and several other unnamed countries in normalising relations with Israel in the near future. “We have many other countries going to be joining us, and they’re going to be joining us soon,” Trump said, speaking to reporters after the UAE and Bahrain formally normalised ties with Israel. “We’ll have 7 or 8 or 9. We’re going to have a lot of other countries joining us, including the big ones,” he said, adding that he had spoken with the king of Saudi Arabia about the issue.
President Donald Trump walks to the Abraham Accords signing ceremony at the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in Washington with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan
Last week, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir indicated that Riyadh envisions the establishment of a Palestinian state within the borders of 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, “in accordance with international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative” of 2002.
18 of the Arab League’s 22 members, including Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen, continue to have no formal relations with Israel.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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