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In an opinion piece on the turning point, an influential Arab diplomat wrote, in Hebrew, that normalization with Israel would not mean a unilateral takeover at the expense of the Palestinians.
By David M. Halbfinger and Ben Hubbard
JERUSALEM – In a key article in an Israeli primary newspaper, a senior diplomat from the United Arab Emirates warned the Israeli public on Friday that unilateral annexation of West Bank territory would jeopardize warming between Israel and Arab countries.
At Friday’s Yediot Ahronot, Yousef al-Otaiba, the U.S. Ambassador to the United States, called on Israelis in Hebrew to dissuade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from keeping his promise to annex occupied territory from next month.
“It’s annexation or normalization,” his editorial’s name said.
The article rebutted an argument by Mr. Netanyahu that annexing West Bank land that the Palestinians have counted on for a state would not imperil Israel’s chances of forging deeper relations with countries like the Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Netanyahu, echoed by a host of right-wing allies, maintains that Arab countries have too much to gain from Israel — in security, technology and commerce, among other realms — to continue sticking up for the Palestinians.
But Mr. al-Otaiba, a close adviser to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, said that this simply was not true.
“The annexation will definitely and promptly oppose all Israeli aspirations for security, economic and cultural ties with the Arab world and the United Arab Emirates,” al-Otaiba wrote in what was believed to be the first such article through an Emirati official. in an Israeli newspaper.
Netanyahu promised to advance the annexation after July 1, in accordance with Trump’s steering plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But while Netanyahu and some of his allies in the Trump administration are pushing for speed, eager to act ahead of The November’s presidential election, others in Washington are pushing the brakes, in part for fear of resistance in Arab countries. World.
The debate on annexation comes amid broader warming towards Israel among several Arab states. In recent years, Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have distanced the property from the former unwavering Arabs for the Palestinian cause, in part because they see Israel as a potential trading component and best friend in their regional rivalry with Iran.
This has led them to soften their grievance about some Israeli actions, but Arab officials have called the annexation too much. Senior officials in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt also condemned the annexation plan, if not on the pages of Israeli newspapers.
King Abdullah II of Jordan warned that the annexation would “lead to a great conflict” with his country. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said this week that the annexation would be “a damaging escalation that threatens the chances of resuming the peace procedure towards security and stability in the region.”
Growing Arab opposition comes when Netanyahu faces internal opposition to the plan, only from the Israeli left, which argued that annexation would lead to deeper foreign isolation and undermine Israeli democracy, but also the leaders of Israeli settlers who had been among the highest. staunch supporters of annexation. They are concerned that the plan will allow the creation of a Palestinian state and halt the expansion of Israeli settlements in much of the West Bank.
The Palestinians see any unilateral annexation as a repeal of the Israel agreements, the Oslo Accords signed in the 1990s. They renounced their commitments to the Oslo Accords and ended their security cooperation with Israel.
It is not known whether the opposition will do Mr Netanyahu’s calculations. He did not respond without delay to Mr. al-Otaiba’s article.
Nor did it publicly state how much it would pursue an extensive annexation. The options come with a combination of the annexation of the strategic Jordan Valley, the eastern edge of the West Bank adjacent to Jordan; the “blocks” of suburban settlements adjacent to Israel itself; or all Jewish settlements, adding outposts at the center of what could be just a Palestinian state under President Trump’s peace plan.
Mr al-Otaiba rejected any annexation, regardless of their scope. “Because it’s a one-sided and calculated plan,” he wrote, “a declaration of annexation constitutes an illegal takeover of Palestinian land.”
Shimrit Meir, an Israeli analyst from the Arab world, called al-Otaiba’s article “the highest effective to date to influence Israeli public opinion” on the annexation.
“When he comes to you and says, ‘Listen, we already have smart relationships, even if they’re not official, and we can have closer relationships, but we strongly recommend that you don’t do X,’ and they speak from a position of openness and cooperation, other people will listen,” Meir said.
Arab preemptive condemnations of the annexation plan contrasted with Arab governments’ reaction to other recent projects across Israel and the United States to gain jewish state advantages at the expense of Palestinians and Arabs. Beyond the publication of pro forma statements, Arab leaders took no action in reaction to Trump’s resolve to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, move the U.S. embassy to Tel Aviv, and recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a land captured through Israel. Syria in 1967.
But Arab leaders may face more tension from their own comrades to respond to any annexation of The West Bank’s territory.
Mr. al-Otaiba tried another approach. He said the annexation would “harden The Arab perspectives on Israel” precisely when years of discrete diplomatic efforts opened up opportunities for cultural exchanges and fostered mutual understanding.
He said his country had worked to inspire citizens of both countries to “reflect on the positive aspect of more open and standardized relations,” noting the invitation of the United Arab Emirates to Israel to participate in Expo 2020, a global exhibition in Dubai that was postponed until next year. due to coronavirus; allows Israel to identify a diplomatic presence in Abu Dhabi under the auspices of the International Renewable Energy Agency; and the opening in Dubai of a kosher catering service to feed its expanding Jewish community.
More generally, he wrote al-Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates and Israel have a percentage of non-unusual interests in terrorism and “aggression,” a reference to Iran, as well as in trade, finance, climate change, water and technology. And as a regional center, he said, the United Arab Emirates had a possible “gateway” for Israel to the Middle East.
“These are the carrots, the incentives, the positives for Israel,” he wrote. He added that “we would like Israel to be an opportunity, not an enemy,” yet a unilateral annexation would be an “undeniable signal” that Israel sees things differently.
In a video interview with The National, an English-language newspaper in Abu Dhabi, al-Otaiba speaks more directly.
“All the progress you see, the exchanges and the openings, can be undermined through an undeniable step,” he said.
On the Palestinian side, reactions to al-Otaiba’s article were combined at best. While some officials said privately that they needed everything they could just to block the annexation, al-Otaiba’s selection of an Israeli newspaper to convey his message provoked anger.
Ghassan Khatib, a former spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, blamed the United Arab Emirates. to check the operation of the opening to forge ties with Israel, and pointed to the arrival at Ben-Gurion Airport this week of an Etihad Airlines aircraft loaded with medical equipment for Palestinians.
“Their purpose is normalization,” Khatib said. “But they are concerned about the negative reactions of the Arabs, so they use the humanitarian wishes of the Palestinians and the annexation as an excuse. But at the end of the day, it hurts Arab and Palestinian positions. And it’s useless.”
David M. Halbfinger reported from Jerusalem and Ben Hubbard from Beirut, Lebanon.
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