(Israel Hayom-Hebrew, 27May2020) Daniel Siryoti - Alongside their public rejection of the Israeli plan to extend sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria, senior officials in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States say their leaders have met in recent months with U.S. officials Jared Kushner and Avi Berkowitz and, in effect, gave them a green light to continue the work of the U.S.-Israel mapping committee to advance the sovereignty plan. A senior Saudi diplomat close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Israel Hayom that Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE have an unofficial coordinated position in favor of the sovereignty plan. "With all due respect to the few Palestinians who live in the Jordan Valley, Arab states like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Jordan will not endanger their relations with the Trump administration for them," he said. "The Palestinians weren't smart enough to take advantage of the supportive Obama government and continued their rejectionism. It is time for Abbas and his veteran leadership to wake up and understand that the interests of the region and the world have changed. If they miss yet another opportunity to establish an independent state alongside Israel because of Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and the settlements, in another 20 years they will be left with nothing." A senior Egyptian security official added that moderate Arab leaders headed by Egyptian President Sisi "see the struggle to block Shiite Iran's drive for hegemony over Sunni nations in the Middle East as a more important issue than that of the Palestinians."
2020-05-27 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive