In what will be a first for Israel, the country was poised to host a summit between US Secretary State Antony Blinken, the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt, and Foreign Minister and Prime Minister-designate Yair Lapid starting Sunday. The two-day summit, to be held at Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev Region, is the initiative of Lapid.
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Following the summit, a Lapid initiative, Blinken will travel to Morocco and Algeria to consult with officials there on a variety of regional and international issues, including the war in Ukraine, Iran's efforts to destabilize the region, the Abraham accords that normalized ties between Arab states and Israel, Israeli-Palestinians ties, as well as maintaining the possibility of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
At a press conference ahead of the historic summit, Blinken said he and Lapid see "eye to eye" on the need to prevent Iran from being a nuclear state. He argued the Iran nuclear deal was the most effective way to put Iran's nuclear program "back in the box it was in."
Noting Iran 聽was continuing to "engage in a whole series of destabilizing activities," Blinken said, "The US will continue to stand up to Iran when it threatens us or when it threatens our allies and partners."
Ahead of the Negev summit, the US secretary of state said Washington was "fully committed to expanding cooperation through the Abraham Accords" that normalized ties between Israel and Arab states and thanked Lapid for initiating efforts to expand the accords.
"Normalization is becoming the new normal," he said.
On the issue of Ukraine, Blinken said the US administration greatly appreciated Israel's "strong repudiation of Russia's aggression against Ukraine" and expressed appreciation of Israeli efforts to avoid allowing sanctions to be bypassed.
He lauded Israel's efforts to mediate a ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow as well as the work of Israel's Shining Star hospital in western Ukraine.
As for his upcoming meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Blinken said he planned to emphasize the White House's commitment to bolstering PA ties.
Addressing the press conference, Lapid said Washington would continue to work with Jerusalem to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. "The world cannot afford a nuclear Iran," nor can it afford to allow the Revolutionary Guards to foment terror around the world, he said.
Noting he and Blinken spoke about talks toward an Iran nuclear deal and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Israel's top diplomat said both countries shared a vision of peace through military and diplomatic strength, he said.
In a statement, the US State Department said, "During the course of his trip, the secretary will emphasize to all of the foreign leaders he meets that the United States stands in solidarity with the government and people of Ukraine in the face of the Kremlin's aggression.聽 We will continue to work closely with our allies and partners to impose further costs on Putin and his enablers if Putin does not change course."
Israel's Ambassador to Bahrain Eitan Na'eh tweeted on Saturday: "43 yrs [years] ago on 26.3.79, Israel and Egypt signed the "mother of all peace accords" in the M.E [Middle East].聽 The late President, A. Al- Saadat showed the way. 43 years later, foreign ministers from at least 4 Arab countries + 馃嚭馃嚫 will gather in 馃嚠馃嚤 [Israel] tomorrow, to talk regional coop[eration]."
Just last Friday, another Arab summit was hosted in Aqaba by Jordan's King Abdullah II and attended by Emirati Crown Prince Sheikh 聽Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Sissi and the Emirati crown prince in the Red Sea resort of Sharm e-Sheikh.
Meanwhile, the head of the Israel Defense Forces' Strategy and Third Circle Directorate, more commonly known as the Iran directorate, Maj. Gen. Tal Kalman, returned on Friday from a trip to the Moroccan capital of Rabat during which officials agreed the IDF would take part in the largest military exercise in Africa and the Middle East, known as "African Lion," as well as future joint military exercises, including on Moroccan soil.
Kalman was joined on the trip by the head of the IDF's Liason Unit Brig. Gen. Efi Dafrin and the head of the Operations Division in the Intelligence Unit Brig. Gen. G.
Within the framework of last week's visit, the Israeli officials met with the Commander in Chief of the Moroccan military, Gen. Belkhir聽El Farouk, as well as senior members of the Moroccan military's General Staff, including the head of its intelligence and operation divisions.
In those meetings, senior Moroccan military officials presented the structure of the security forces and the main challenges facing their forces. The Moroccan officials expressed their desire to promote extensive military cooperation. Kalman, meanwhile, explained to the Moroccan officials the structure of the IDF, the regional and global threats faced by the Jewish state, as well as the key areas in which the IDF has gained operational knowledge and experience.
During the visit, a memorandum of understanding was signed on the areas of cooperation and it was agreed a joint military committee would be tasked with signing a working plan.
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