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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walks with his entourage in the Knesset on Wednesday night. .
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
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The inability to form a government, the upcoming second elections and now, the decision that an official delegation of the Israeli government will not attend the conference in Bahrain, contribute to a strategic blockage that could have prevented a further breakthrough in the Arab-Israeli conflict. and perhaps even in relations with the Palestinians.
About a year before the last elections, it seemed that Israel was about to embark on a new advance of normalization with the Arab world, without having to make a significant step forward in relations with the Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Sultan Quaboos bin Said in Oman at the end of 2018, as well as Chadian President Idriss Déby, who even went to Israel. According to Netanyahu, direct dialogue with the Palestinians has failed and relations with the Arab states must be standardized to force the Palestinians to accept some arrangement. Netanyahu seems to have identified a window of opportunity in the context of the common enemy, Iran.
Although the Ministry of Defense denied in 2018 that the Iron Dome air defense missile system had been sold to Saudi Arabia, it is impossible to ignore the important statement of the Saudi Crown Prince and Defense Minister Muhammad bin Salman that he "recognizes the right of Israel to exist". That year, Saudi Arabia cleared Israeli planes to fly over its airspace bound for India.
We do not know about secret and behind-the-scenes relations, so we must adopt what the Saudi Foreign Minister said that year: "There is the Arab Peace Initiative, a roadmap for realizing peace and establishment normal relations between Israel and the Arab States. "Since neither Israel nor the Palestinians ever declared that they were adopting the Arab road map, it seems that the US decision today is to create a" new road map ", the" Deal of the century. And its implementation by the Arab states should be treated as a new Arab initiative – this time, which adopts the American approach.
In December, Netanyahu told a conference of ambbadadors at the Foreign Ministry: "We are in the process of normalizing with the Arab world, without us being able to progress, to my dismay, with the Palestinians. The hope has always been that progress with the Palestinians will open a door to the Arab world, but with the Palestinians' categorical refusal to cooperate and with the terrorist attacks, that hope has been buried. We must try to develop relations with the Arab world that will create conditions for the development of relations with the Palestinians. He began to accelerate this concept, both surface and subsurface, by traveling to Oman and Chad, developing intelligence relations with the Gulf states and more.
The Prime Minister has expressed Israel's agreement to participate in the Bahrain Conference, which should be the first step towards launching the "deal of the century" and establish the economic foundations and financial incentives for Palestinians to participate. to the peace process.
HOWEVER, the inability to form a new government in Israel and, as a result, new elections broke the wheels of the trolley as the government tried to break the stalemate and move forward. It is quite possible that the concession made by Israel and even by the Americans to the Israeli representation at the Bahrain Conference, following the second round of elections in Israel, is a missed opportunity for Israel to give a new direction to peace. – or at least, a much better and shared life for both sides. The Israeli presence at such a conference would have been a statement that conference members would adopt the new approach, which defines "recalculating the route" on how to reach agreements between Israel and the Palestinians – and which begins specifically through the normalization of human rights. relations with the participating Arab countries.
We often tend to criticize Palestinian leaders for never failing to miss an opportunity – and now, the inability of party leaders to form a government has resulted in an inability to seize an opportunity. It was possible to form a government that would adopt the new concept, especially when the most pro-Israel President of the White House had been elected to the White House, as well as representatives such as Ambbadador David Friedman and Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt, who show sympathy, Zionist Position. At this point, leaders did not know how to meet and unite. Israel has missed a strategic opportunity to embark on a new path.
It is to be hoped that a new government will be formed as soon as possible after the elections, adopt this new approach and bring about a fundamental change in the status of Israel and perhaps even relations between Israel and the Palestinians.
The writer, lawyer, is mayor of Efrat and chief international ambbadador for the YESHA Council.
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