ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US looks to “deepen and broaden” normalization agreements between Israel and Arab states, the American Secretary of State said on Monday.
“One of the most effective ways to make Israel more secure is to continue to build bridges in the region and even well beyond the region. That’s why we’ve worked relentlessly to deepen and broaden the Abraham Accords and other normalization agreements between Israel and Arab states,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a joint press conference with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu while visiting Israel.
Blinken added that representatives from the US government had met with representatives from Israel, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, and the UAE earlier this month, in what he described as the “largest gathering of Israel and Arab officials” since 1991.
The normalization of ties with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords is a US-led joint Middle East peace initiative. Four countries - the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Bahrain, and Morocco - normalized ties with Israel in 2020, supported by America.
Egypt has already shared normal relations with Israel since a mutual signature to a peace treaty in 1979.
Addressing the same topic, Israeli PM Netanyahu said that Israel is also looking to expand the circle of peace.
“We intend to deepen the peace that we’ve already made in the Abraham Accords. We discussed some of the initiatives that we are considering doing together, but also to perhaps achieve dramatic breakthroughs that I think could be both historic and enormously significant in our common efforts to bring prosperity, security, and peace to this part of the world and to - and beyond,” Netanyahu said.
Saudi Arabia is among Arab countries who have somehow expressed will towards normalization with Israel, however their will is conditional.
The Saudi Kingdom’s Foreign Minister last year said that Riyadh has “envisioned that there will be full normalization with Israel”.
However Saudi’s approach at normalization is conditional on seeing “progress” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, an approach Netanyahu claimed they are working on.
“I have to tell you that I also believe that expanding the circle of peace - working to close, finally, the file of the Arab-Israeli conflict - I think would also help us achieve a workable solution with our Palestinian neighbors,” Netanyahu said.
