‘PA pushing for Arab League meeting,’
In light of the recent burgeoning relations between Israel and Arab majority countries, the Palestinian Authority is pushing for an urgent meeting of the Arab League.
“There is a series of Arab and Islamic resolutions and declarations that explicitly state that there will be no normalization with Israel without a solution for the Palestinian issue based on the Arab Peace Initiative and the decisions of the international community,” Nabil Shaath, a Palestinian official, told Haaretz.
According to the report, the PA views Israel’s potential ties with Sudan and Bahrain as normalization and as building a relationship with Israel while the Palestinian issue has yet to be resolved.
“What we see in recent weeks – from [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s visit to Oman and the visit of the president of Chad to Israel, and now we talk about Bahrain, Sudan and about ties with Saudi Arabia. It raises question marks! Therefore the Arab and Islamic position needs to be clarified,” Shaath continued.
“Both Israel and the US are exploiting the Palestinian schism in order to get closer to Arab and Islamic countries,” he said.
Sudan denied relations with Israel. Abdel-Sakhi Abbas, the leader of the ruling National Congress Party in Sudan, was quoted by the Turkish Anadolu Agency service as saying that Sudan’s position on normalization of ties with Israel is clear “and is fundamentally linked to the Palestinian cause.”
The Arab League agreed that no agreement with Israel could be made until a solution was found for the Palestinians during the Arab summit in April in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
The PA’s hope for a meeting comes against the backdrop of the president of Chad Idriss Déby’s historic visit to Israel on Sunday.
In the past month, Israel’s relationships with Arab countries have started to shift. In the end of November, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Oman. The last time a prime minister visited Oman was when Shimon Peres went in 1996.
Herb Keinon contributed to this report.