Blinken attends 'historic' Israeli, Arab summit amid Iran deal tensions, Palestinian opposition
ABC News
Monday's meeting brings together Israel and the U.S. with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco.
SDE BOKER, Israel -- Out here in the Negev desert, the Israeli government says, history is being made.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is hosting for the first time on Israeli soil the foreign ministers of four Arab countries that now have close ties with the Jewish state -- a new reality for a region realigned in recent years, especially by the threat from Iran.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will join them for what Israel calls the Negev summit, but only after an evening of meetings with Palestinian leadership, including President Mahmoud Abbas, and civil society Sunday. While these new Arab-Israeli ties have been heralded for bringing peace and stability, they have left the Palestinians behind and done little to address the decades-old tensions there.
The Biden administration is trying to patch up ties with the Palestinians after frosty Trump years -- especially with the specter of violence hanging over next month. Passover and Ramadan coincide, setting the stage for potential sparks like last spring's deadly fighting.
