Benjamin Netanyahu
Photographer: Abir Sultan / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Abir Sultan / AFP / Getty Images
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Attempts by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to create a pre-election uproar over new normalization movements in the Middle East came again when Qatar denied following this plan.
Netanyahu said last week that four countries are on track to establish diplomatic relations with his country and his intelligence minister later identified Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Niger as potential partners.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Adel Al-Jubeir said on Saturday that normalization depended on resolving Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians. A Qatari Foreign Ministry official said on Sunday that the same condition applied to his country. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the diplomatic strategy.
Netanyahu’s attempt to mix diplomacy with electoral politics provoked an acid response from the UAE, which in August became the first Arab nation in the Gulf to agree to normalize ties with Israel. Netanyahu planned a March 11 visit to Abu Dhabi, less than two weeks before the Israeli election. After canceling it due to an agreement with Jordan, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said his country “will not take part in any internal elections in Israel, neither now nor ever.” .
Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, moderated expectations over Netanyahu’s claim this month that the country would invest $ 10 billion in Israeli projects, saying the studies were in an early stage. and that any investment would be “commercially driven and not politically associated.” “.