The UAE on Monday called for the establishment of an “independent Palestinian state” as its officials met with counterparts from Israel, the US, Bahrain, Egypt, and Morocco in Abu Dhabi as part of the Negev Forum.
THE UAE’S STATEMENT
The Emirati Foreign Ministry stressed that any initiative to strengthen regional cooperation should include Palestine. It reiterated the UAE’s “support” for the Palestinian people, indicating that it would use the forum to advocate for a Palestinian state, based on the borders that existed before 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The ministry affirmed that the primary aim of the meeting is to improve regional communication, dialogue, and peaceful coexistence.
THE MEETING
The three-day meeting will see officials prepare the groundwork for the March Negev Forum foreign ministers’ summit in Morocco. Accordingly, the delegations will create working groups in the areas of health, regional security, education, water and food security, tourism, and energy. The groups are expected to formulate projects that will be discussed during the upcoming summit.
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NEGEV FORUM
This was the third meeting of the Negev Forum countries and the first physical conference since the forum was founded in March 2022 as part of the landmark Negev Summit, held in Sde Boker, Israel. Officials from all six countries participated in the Summit, which aimed to improve ties between Israel and the Arab world.
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The Forum was formed as an extension of the landmark Abraham Accords, wherein the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco normalised relations with Israel.
ARAB-ISRAELI EVOLVING TIES
Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz on Monday said that the forum represented a “natural evolution” of ties between Israel and the Arab world. Ushpiz, leading a 30-person Israeli delegation in Abu Dhabi, noted that it enables members to advance “a joint vision of security, prosperity and peace for the region and its inhabitants.”
POLITICAL TENSION IN JERUSALEM
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The Abu Dhabi meeting is occurring amid escalating tensions between Israel and Palestine. Arab countries, including the UAE, Egypt, Morocco, and Bahrain, condemned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s visit to the flashpoint Temple Mount in East Jerusalem. The UAE even called an emergency session of the UN Security Council last week in this regard.