Benjamin Netanyahu
Photographer: Abir Sultan / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Abir Sultan / AFP / Getty Images
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to create pre-election buzz around further normalization movements in the Middle East took another blow when Qatar denied pursuing such a plan.
Netanyahu said last week that four countries are on track to establish diplomatic relations with his country, and his intelligence minister later named Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Niger as potential partners.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Adel Al-Jubeir, said on Saturday that normalization depends on the resolution of the Israeli conflict with the Palestinians. A Qatar State Department official said on Sunday that the same condition applied to his country. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic strategy.
Netanyahu’s attempt to combine diplomacy with electoral politics sparked a sharp reaction from the United Arab Emirates, which in August were the first Gulf Arab states to agree to normalize ties with Israel. Netanyahu planned a March 11 visit to Abu Dhabi, less than two weeks before Israel’s election. After it was canceled due to an argument with Jordan, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said his country will “now or never participate in internal elections in Israel.”
Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, tempered expectations regarding Netanyahu’s claim this month that the country would invest $ 10 billion in Israeli projects, saying the studies were in the early stages and that all investments “would be commercially driven and not politically associated. . “