San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Israel to host top Arab diplomats for Blinken visit
JERUSALEM — Israel will host a historic summit early next week with the top diplomats from the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain, a sign of how quickly the realignment of Middle Eastern powers is accelerating as Israelis and some Arab governments find common cause not only over Iran but in navigating the new global realities created by the Ukraine war.
Unimaginable half a decade ago, the high-level meeting reflects the new political reality created when Israel sealed landmark diplomatic agreements with the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco in 2020. Planned for Sunday and Monday, it is set to be the first meeting with top officials from three Arab countries on Israeli soil, and highlights how Israel — which needed the United States to help broker the 2020 accords — can now become a bridge between Washington and certain Arab governments.
The upcoming meeting will provide a forum to discuss concerns about the Ukraine war; the possibility of a new nuclear deal with Iran; and the need to avoid a surge of violence in Israel and the occupied territories next month, when important Jewish, Muslim and Christian holidays will overlap.
The Israeli foreign minister, Yair Lapid, will host the conference, which his ministry said Friday would bring together U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, and Nasser Bourita, their Moroccan counterpart.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Washington last year. Blinken will join foreign ministers in Israel for talks starting Sunday.
The meeting will take place against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and will give Blinken a chance to encourage Washington’s Middle East allies to align with U.S. efforts to isolate Russia.
The meeting also comes as Western-led negotiations are trying to persuade Iran to scale back its nuclear program — an effort that Israel has criticized
because it fears this will lead to a deal that does not adequately restrict Iran.
It has become clear that shared fears of a nuclear Iran — as well as shared concerns about the perceived retreat of the U.S. from the region, and the opportunities afforded by greater economic ties between Israel and the Arab world — now seem to be a greater priority for several Arab governments
than an immediate resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel was ostracized for years by all but two Arab countries, Egypt and Jordan, as much of the Arab world refused to normalize ties until the creation of a Palestinian state.