Rocky start to 2023 for Middle East
Al-Aqsa ‘incursion’ by Israeli minister suggests this could be challenging year for peace in region
Given Israel’s new extremeright coalition government, prospects for peace between Palestinians and Israelis seemed off to a rocky start this year, casting doubts on broadening Arab-Israeli normalization efforts.
But any turns for the worse can be prevented, and tensions reduced or minimized, if Israel “plays its cards well”, according to analysts.
Just days after Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn into his sixth term as Israel’s prime minister on Dec 29, the visit of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem on Jan 3 sparked widespread condemnation.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, held a meeting on Jan 10 “condemning in the strongest terms” the visit of the Israeli official.
It urged the United Nations Security Council to assume its responsibilities and “act urgently to take the necessary measures, without selectivity or double standards”.
The OIC also called for the imposition of “sanctions on the Israeli minister who assaulted the sanctity of the blessed Aqsa Mosque”.
The United Arab Emirates (with which Israel normalized ties through the United States-brokered Abraham Accords in September 2020), Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Turkiye all issued statements denouncing Ben-Gvir’s move. Netanyahu, who was supposed to visit the UAE on Jan 8, was forced to postpone his trip to February over the furor, Israeli media reported.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement saying Netanyahu is “committed to strictly maintaining the status quo, without changes, on the Temple Mount” and said the claim that a change has been made in the status quo “is without foundation”.
Ayman Yousef, a professor of international relations at the Arab American University in Jenin in the West Bank, told China Daily that the visit by Ben-Gvir to Al-Aqsa “came as a kind of incursion and infiltration”.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Jan 7 that the Palestinians will confront “the serious violations committed by the new Israeli government and extremist settler groups”, such as the visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as “racist laws and programs” that are contrary to international law and signed agreements, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The London-based Middle East Monitor reported that Ben-Gvir had visited Al-Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards “many times before”, but never as a minister in the Israeli government.
In a long-standing status quo, the Al-Aqsa compound only allows Muslim worship at the site as it is Islam’s third-holiest after Mecca and Medina. The site is called Temple Mount by the Jews, and deemed the holiest site in Judaism.
Muslim Imran, director at Malaysia-based think tank the Asia Middle East Center for Research and Dialogue, told China Daily that Netanyahu’s return will further polarize Israeli society.
“But the more clear repercussion or impact of Netanyahu’s return will be on regional politics. I do believe that Netanyahu, being the main initiator of the recent normalization campaign, with the backing of course of former US president Donald Trump, he will try to bring back the normalization agenda to the table,” said Imran.
He cited Netanyahu’s efforts to reach out to Arab countries and the upcoming preparation for the Negev Forum in Morocco in the spring.
“I believe that Netanyahu might have logic as well as rational wisdom to convince his fellow ministers to be aligned with broader political outlines because Netanyahu might try to normalize further with Muslim countries,” said Yousef from the West Bank.
Yousef cited possible candidate countries like Tunisia in North Africa and Oman in the Gulf, which recently voted on a draft amendment to broaden a law prohibiting relations and contacts with Israel.
“I think Israel, if they play their political cards well, they will have more normal relations with many Arab countries. That will depend on their political behavior internally and externally,” said Yousef.
In a press release on Jan 5, Khaled Khiari, UN assistant secretary-general for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, appealed to leaders on all sides of the Palestinian question to help lower the flames of tension and maintain the status quo of Jerusalem’s holy sites.