Arab world outraged by humiliation at Warsaw conference

“I think it was a great initiative, in 2002 when it was done, but it hasn’t produced peace, so if that was the framework under which something would be accomplished then I think that would have been accomplished a long time ago, and then I wouldn’t be doing the duty I’m doing right now to try to bring the people together,” Kushner reportedly said behind closed doors at the Warsaw summit. His words were leaked to the Israeli media.

Netanyahu later confirmed that Kushner had dismissed the Saudi peace plan.

Netanyahu said Thursday that statements by Arab leaders at the Warsaw conference on the Middle East laid the groundwork for the Arab public to accept the normalization of ties with Israel.

The opening dinner Wednesday night of the conference marked “a historical turning point,” Netanyahu told reporters, adding that Arab foreign ministers speaking in front of the world together with Israel about a common enemy was a “process of legitimization of a global and Arab public opinion.”

“In a room of some 60 foreign ministers representative of dozens of governments, an Israeli prime minister and the foreign ministers of the leading Arab countries stood together and spoke with unusual force, clarity and unity against the common threat of the Iranian regime,” he said.

The four countries Netanyahu was talking about were Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Kuwait, none of which has recognized the occupying regime yet.

Arab leaders play down Palestinian issue

Netanyahu’s office later released a video of the closed meeting in which Persian Gulf Arab officials play down the Israeli-palestinian conflict, defend Israel’s “right to defend itself”, and describe Iran as the greatest threat to regional peace.

The video gave a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes contacts the Israeli leader frequently boasts of, but which are rarely seen in public. The video was recorded on a mobile device and it was not clear who took it.

Netanyahu’s office briefly made the Youtube video available to a small group of journalists traveling with him before quickly removing it.

It was unclear whether Netanyahu, who is running for reelection, intended to leak the information or distributed it mistakenly.

But the decision to take the video down indicated the Persian Gulf officials, whose governments do not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel, had not consented to its release, Israel’s Ynet online news website said.

“Netanyahu has the right to post joyful tweets and proudly talk of standing by his Arab brothers on the same boat to counter the threat of Iran, but we are sure the joy will not last long, as those who have chosen to be his friend and elected him as their leader do not represent the Arab-islamic values or even their own nations,” Atwan said in his Thursday piece.

“We do not know how those participating in the summit want to face their own nations, but we are sure the moment they elect Netanyahu as the leader of their new coalition, they will turn Iran into the symbol of resistance and defense of Arab-islamic societies and their sanctities,” he added.