Israel and multiple Arab states, along with the United States, have taken the Trump-brokered Abraham Accords peace agreement a big step further, on Monday agreeing to erect a permanent security forum, which involves the participation of Israeli, the US, Egypt, UAE, Bahrain and Morocco.
The Times of Israel described that “At their historic summit in the Israeli Negev town of Sde Boker on Monday, the top diplomats of Israel, the US and four Arab nations announced that the conference would be the first iteration of a permanent regional forum, as they reaffirmed the importance of growing ties between Israel and the broader Middle East.”
It came on the heels of a deadly terror attack which took the lives of two Israeli border police in the northern city of Hadera on Sunday. “The foreign ministers of Israel, Egypt, Bahrain, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates and the US secretary of state all condemned terrorism, a day after an attack in the city of Hadera in which two Border Police officers were shot dead,” Times of Israel continues.
Above: Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, left, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, and United Arab Emirates’ Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan
The killings grabbed headlines across Israeli media, and has been blamed on Islamists which Israeli government authorities say had sympathies for the Islamic State.
However, the focus of what’s being called “a permanent forum” dubbed the Negev Summit is Iran. All foreign representatives said they are presenting a united front against the Islamic Republic, which the Arab Gulf allies in particular have been in proxy war against for at least a decade, starting with the Syrian war, but also over the last seven years in Yemen.
The unprecedented gathering was widely seen as an attempt by Israel and its Arab allies to create a front against shared regional foe Iran. Israeli officials told reporters on the scene that the talks centered around creating a “regional security architecture,” among other issues.
The Times of Israel details further:
At a joint press conference of all six diplomats following the meetings, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid told reporters that the so-called Negev Summit would become “a permanent forum.”
He said the confab was building “a new regional architecture based on progress, technology, religious tolerance, security and intelligence cooperation.”
I participated in Negev Summit, joined by my counterparts from Israel, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, and the UAE. This was a historic meeting, building on the promise of earlier peace agreements and Abraham Accords. I look forward to deepening and expanding the circle of friendship. pic.twitter.com/kQf3dPHZrl
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) March 28, 2022
The Arab ministers took the previously rare step of condemning the latest attacks on Israeli police. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended in person, and hailed that “once-impossible things have become possible” – in reference to the fact that the Arab Gulf countries present up to a couple years ago didn’t even have formal relations with Israel, but now they have joined a permanent counter-terror security forum hosted by the Jewish state.
