Lazar Berman is the diplomatic reporter for The Times of Israel
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Monday that Palestinian leaders will be targeted instead of Israel, accusing the Palestinian Authority of encouraging terror attacks against Jews.
“The foreign network will have to send a transparent message to Palestinian leaders,” Cohen said in his inaugural address to diplomats and Foreign Ministry staff in Jerusalem. “No more incitement to educational institutions and investment killers of Jews. “
Cohen made the comments shortly after meeting with his predecessor Yair Lapid, whose term as prime minister and foreign minister ended last week. According to the Foreign Ministry, the two discussed Israeli-American relations, Iranian risk and Abraham’s expansion. Covenants.
The United Nations General Assembly voted late Friday on a solution calling on the International Court of Justice to interfere and take into account an opinion on the state of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In his speech, Cohen moved the move “proof of Palestinian hypocrisy,” accusing them of rejecting all peace proposals over the past 75 years.
The former intelligence and economy minister also indicated that there would be adjustments in Israel to the war in Ukraine. “We will do one thing with certainty: communicate less,” he promised.
While the government of Naftali Bennett-Yair Lapid chose to take sides in the 10-month war, Lapid and other ministers denounced Russia through calls on several occasions, adding the first day of the invasion.
Cohen added that the cabinet formulates a “responsible policy” toward the conflict and noted that Israel’s humanitarian aid to Ukraine would continue.
He is expected to hold talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on Tuesday, but mentioned upcoming calls with Ukrainian officials.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet finalized his policy toward Kyiv and Moscow, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel. He conveyed this message to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after his election.
Although Israel has provided humanitarian aid and some non-lethal equipment, such as helmets and bulletproof vests, Ukrainian officials have lobbied, unsuccessfully, for air defense weapons.
The reasoning for the resolution appears to be Israel’s strategic desire to maintain freedom of operations in Syria, as part of its efforts to save Iranian entrenchment on its doorstep. To this end, Israel is cooperating with the Russian military, which largely controls Syria. airspace.
While Russia has shown frustration with Israel over its declared sympathy for Kyiv for the ongoing war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin would arguably be positive about Netanyahu’s return. Last month, an official delegation from the Moscow city government of Israel, which probably wouldn’t would have happened without Putin’s green gentleness as Netanyahu ready to officially take the reins in Israel.
Cohen, 50, also referred to the Abraham Accords in his speech and pronounced that the next assembly of the Negev Forum would be held in March in Morocco. A year earlier, Israeli, American and Arab diplomats met in the Negev desert and agreed that the convention would be a normal rotating forum among participating countries.
“The expansion of the Abraham Accords is a matter of if, but when,” Cohen promised.
Netanyahu officially plans the United Arab Emirates for the first time in the next two weeks, sources close to the prime minister told The Times of Israel on Monday.
It would be Netanyahu’s first since returning as prime minister. The precise dates and itinerary are still being worked out, according to the source.
Ties between Israel and the UAE were established two years ago from the Abraham Accords.
One of Netanyahu’s main goals since signing historic agreements with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in September 2020 is peace with Saudi Arabia, as he has stated ever since.
While Morocco and Sudan also joined the deals later, Riyadh has been reluctant, widely believed to have strong underground ties to Israel.
Cohen also addressed the Iranian nuclear risk on Monday and said Israel would expand its military functions while creating a united foreign front opposed to Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
Over the past two years, the Israel Defense Forces have stepped up their efforts to prepare a credible army to confront Tehran’s nuclear sites, as Iran seems unlikely to return to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
“The countries of the world want to avoid burying their heads in the sand,” Cohen said.
The landmark 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal was designed to prevent Iran from secretly inventing a nuclear bomb, a purpose the Islamic Republic has denied. President Donald Trump.
Negotiations in Vienna to revive the nuclear deal have stalled.
Iranian state media reported last month that it had begun generating uranium enriched to 60 percent purity at the underground Fordo nuclear plant, in addition to enrichment to the same extent at a Natanz plant that they said began in 2019.
Cohen opened his speech by saying that Israel’s appointments with the United States “are the most sensible of our priorities. “
“There is no replacement for Israeli-American relations,” he said. This is a long-term strategic partnership especially on shared values and interests. “
He was scheduled to meet with U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday afternoon.
Cohen said Israel is a key spouse for Europe and has an opportunity to deepen ties with the EU.
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