Israel to host top Arab diplomats during Blinken’s visit
India Today
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it would host top Arab diplomats during US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit.
Israel said Friday it would host the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain during US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit early next week, in what would be the latest in a flurry of high-level meetings held across the Middle East.
The three Arab countries normalized relations with Israel in 2020 in the so-called Abraham Accords. The Biden administration welcomed those agreements, which were concluded under then-President Donald Trump, and has expressed interest in negotiating additional ones.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it would host the four top diplomats on Sunday and Monday, with additional details to be provided later.
In a separate development, Jordan’s King Abdullah II hosted Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and Abu Dhabi’s powerful crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in the southern Jordanian city of Aqaba.
The palace said Friday’s meeting, which was also attended by a senior Saudi official, “covered means to advance ties between Jordan and these countries,” without elaborating. A statement from the Iraqi leader’s office said they discussed the global economic crisis and ways to confront food security challenges.
Sheikh Mohammed, the de facto ruler of the UAE, met with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and el-Sissi in Egypt earlier this week.
Blinken will visit Israel, the occupied West Bank, Morocco and Algeria starting this weekend, as US diplomacy faces serious tests related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as well as Middle Eastern regional issues.
