JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday called off a visit to the United Arab Emirates and cited a diplomatic disagreement with Jordan, in an embarrassing setback for his re-election campaign just days before the vote.
Netanyahu hoped to use the audience with the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates (his first public meeting since the countries established ties last September) to boost his campaign ahead of the March 23 elections. Instead, he must explain to the public why his trip had been canceled and did damage control to protect Israel’s fragile relationship with the Jordanians.
Netanyahu’s office said it had difficulty coordinating the flight over Jordan’s airspace after Jordan’s Crown Prince canceled a visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, a sacred and sensitive site in Jordan’s custody. due to disagreements over security arrangements.
At a press conference, Netanyahu said there had been a misunderstanding. When it was fixed, he said it was too late to fly.
“I can fly through the sky of Jordan,” he said. “Until it was coordinated, today’s visit was not possible.”
He said he had spoken by telephone with the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and agreed that he would visit “very soon”. He also said the emirates informed him of plans to invest $ 10 billion in Israel.
There were no immediate comments from the UAE.
With Israel now closed in its fourth election campaign in two years, Netanyahu is once again trying to portray himself as an experienced and qualified statesman to lead the country through his numerous diplomatic and security challenges.
One of the key pillars of this strategy, Netanyahu’s close ties to former President Donald Trump, are no longer relevant now that there is a new administration in the White House. But Netanyahu continues to point to Israel’s agreements that establish ties with the United Arab Emirates and three other Arab countries, all brokered by Trump, as one of his most proud achievements.
These agreements, however, have come at the expense of the Palestinians and neighboring Jordan, which after Egypt became the second Arab country to reach peace with Israel in 1994.
The immediate cause of this week’s dispute arose from Jordan’s role as custodian of the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site. It is also the holiest site for Jews, referred to as the Temple Mount, and has long been a hotbed for Middle Eastern tensions.
The Crown Prince of Jordan, Hussein bin Abdullah II, had planned to visit the mosque to pray during the Muslim holidays that marked the rise of the Prophet Muhammad to the site from the site. But he returned to the border due to a disagreement with Israeli authorities over the number of armed escorts that could accompany him, Israeli media reported.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi accused Israel of changing the agreements reached “at the last minute” and of forcing the Crown Prince to cancel the visit.
“His Highness decided he did not want to interrupt this night of peaceful prayer,” Safadi said at a Paris summit. “We cannot accept Israeli interference in Al-Aqsa affairs.”
Oded Eran, a former Israeli ambassador to Jordan, said the dispute reflected a deeper deterioration in relations in recent years.
“The main problem is that there is no dialogue between the No. 1s in Jordan and Israel, that is, between the Prime Minister and the King of Jordan,” he said.
This lack of confidence was highlighted by Israel’s plans last year to annex parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israel suspended the annexation plan as part of its agreement to establish ties with the UAE, but Eran said the Jordanians remain deeply suspicious.
Jordan, which is home to a large Palestinian population, sees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in neighboring the West Bank as a key interest and any Israeli annexation destroys the remaining hopes of Palestinian independence. Israel and the Palestinians have not held substantial peace talks in more than a decade.
“At the very least, they need a political process and a move toward a solution,” said Eran, now a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank. “The process itself is very important to the Jordanians and when it is not there, there are certainly concerns.”
Earlier in the day, Netanyahu’s office announced that his wife, Sara, had been hospitalized with an appendix infection. She was said to have been hospitalized for several days.
The canceled trip and the medical emergency seemed to create unwanted distractions for Netanyahu’s campaign, at least for the day. The Israeli leader has focused his campaign on his successful efforts to vaccinate the Israeli public against the coronavirus.
In just over two months, Israel has vaccinated about 80% of its adult population, allowing authorities to begin reopening schools, shops, restaurants and museums just before election day.
Still, opinion polls continue to show that Netanyahu is locked in a narrow race against a challenging field. According to projections, Netanyahu’s Likud is expected to emerge as the largest party, but without sufficient support from the Allies to form a governing majority coalition.
The trip to the UAE could have helped bring the campaign to life. It could also help divert attention from Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial, which will resume on April 5, and public anger over the economic damage caused by repeated coronavirus blockages over the past year.
Gideon Rahat, a political scientist at the Hebrew University and a senior member of Israel’s Institute of Democracy, said Netanyahu had suffered a setback on Thursday, but that he still had time to control the agenda and put things right.
For example, Netanyahu could still find a way to visit the UAE before the election, Rahat said. And the vaccination campaign could help him more as the economy comes back to life.
Last Thursday, Netanyahu hosted leaders from Hungary and the Czech Republic for talks on cooperation in their coronavirus strategies.
The Czech Republic also opened a diplomatic office in Jerusalem, giving little support to Israel’s claims about the disputed city. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located, to be the capital of their future state. Most countries maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv because of the dispute.
“It can be called a bad day for Netanyahu, but no more than that,” Rahat said.