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Israel is present in 6 Arab countries

November 15, 2019 at 4:04 pm

Omani Foreign Minister Yousef Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Warsaw, Poland on 13 February 2019 [YouTube]

According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Tel Aviv is currently in contact with half a dozen important Arab and Muslim countries that until recently were hostile to Israel. He called this a process of “accelerated normalisation”.

The man declares these facts, but has not announced the names of these Arab countries so as not to embarrass them in front of their people. He has also left them with the freedom to announce this at the time they deem fit. However, by following events, we are able to accurately, or with slight error, name these countries: Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Dubai, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Netanyahu says that Israel will take part in Dubai Expo 2020, where countries will showcase their latest products. He said this reflects the progress of normalisation with Arab countries on the ground.

This is not to mention the visits made by Israeli officials to these countries and the trade and security relations between them and Tel Aviv. There is also the sports presence of Israeli sports teams in these capitals and the performance of Talmudic rituals on Jewish holidays in Arab capitals.

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These countries were hiding their old relations with Tel Aviv at the time of the national tide, but today, there is no need for the leaders of these countries to hide their relationship as they destroyed Arab nationalism and arrested the Islamic movements. Moreover, the people have given in to the demands of intellectual invasion, the demands of the media and consumerism. The people now see the liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem as a waste of time and believe normalisation with Israel has an advantage over jihad for the sake of Allah.

Some cynics have said: the day will come soon when the State of Israel will be a member of the Arab League, and I believe that its presence in six Arab countries without official objections from the Palestinians or from the rest of the Arab countries means that it does not need to be present in the Arab League. While Israel is not a member of the Arab League, it already exists by force and that is enough.

The leaders of the occupying power would not make such statements a few years ago, but now they do not really care, as they have received the green light from the Arab countries. This prepares the masses for public declarations, gets them used to hearing what they had refused and to accept practical measures.

The only losers in these developments are the Palestinians, who have lost the comfort and reassurance of residing in these six capitals, while the Israelis are all comfortable in all of them.

READ: Saudi Arabia’s normalisation with Israel

This article first appeared in Arabic in the Palestinian Information Centre on 15 November 2019

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.