Arab overseas ministers condemned Israel on Saturday for blocking their deliberate go to to the occupied West Bank, the place they have been set to satisfy Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
According to an announcement from Jordan’s Foreign Ministry, the ministers denounced Israel’s determination to stop Sunday’s delegation, which was to incorporate prime diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain, together with the Arab League’s secretary-general.
Israel introduced late Friday that it will not cooperate with the go to, successfully halting it resulting from its management over the West Bank’s borders and airspace.
An Israeli official defended the transfer, claiming Abbas had “intended to host in Ramallah a provocative meeting of foreign ministers from Arab countries to discuss the promotion of the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
“Such a state would undoubtedly become a terrorist state in the heart of the Land of Israel. Israel will not cooperate with such moves aimed at harming it and its security,” the official stated.
Had the go to gone forward, the delegation’s head, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, would have turn out to be the primary Saudi overseas minister to go to the West Bank.
This week, Israel introduced the creation of twenty-two new Jewish settlements within the West Bank, which the United Nations considers unlawful underneath worldwide regulation and one of many predominant obstacles to a long-lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
During a go to to one of many new settlement websites on Friday, Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to construct a “Jewish Israeli state” within the Palestinian territory.
‘Diplomatic confrontation’
Taking purpose at overseas international locations that will “recognize a Palestinian state on paper,” Katz added: “The paper will be thrown into the trash bin of history, and the State of Israel will flourish and prosper.”
In June, Saudi Arabia and France are set to co-chair a global convention on the United Nations headquarters in New York aimed toward reviving the two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian battle.
Saudi Arabia was stated to be near recognizing Israel earlier than the beginning of the Gaza battle, and U.S. President Donald Trump, throughout a current go to to Riyadh, known as normalization between the 2 international locations “my fervent hope and wish.”
However, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has repeatedly stated Saudi Arabia is not going to acknowledge Israel with out the creation of an impartial Palestinian state.
Firas Maksad, managing director for the Middle East and North Africa at Eurasia Group, stated Israel’s rejection of the go to indicated “how far Saudi and Israel have moved from normalization to diplomatic confrontation.”
He added that the deliberate go to “underscores just how much the Saudi position has shifted away from creating a credible pathway towards a Palestinian state through conditional normalization with Israel, to one that aims to create such a path via an international coalition in support of Palestinian aspirations.”
International backlash has been rising since Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza in March, with a worsening humanitarian disaster and the United Nations warning of famine throughout the territory.
Saudi Arabia is co-hosting the upcoming convention with France in New York, aiming to revive the two-state resolution.
French President Emmanuel Macron beforehand stated he may acknowledge a Palestinian state at that assembly, drawing a pointy rebuke from Israel.
Source: www.dailysabah.com