Israel hosts Secretary of State, 4 Arab FMs in historic Negev summit
Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid is hosting the US Secretary of State and the Foreign Ministers of four Arab countries at “The Negev Summit” which will take place in Sde Boker today and Monday.
Six foreign ministers will participate in this historic meeting: Lapid, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Morocco Nasser Bourita, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt Sameh Shoukry.
The foreign ministers will arrive on Sunday at the Isrotel Kedma Hotel in Sde Boker and will have dinner together.
Monday morning, meetings will be held between the Foreign Ministers and at their conclusion, the peak of the summit, statements will be given to the press.
The focus of the summit is the Iranian threat and the pending resigning of the nuclear deal with Tehran.
The scope of the summit and the presence of the Arab foreign ministers in Israel are considered unprecedented.
Jordan was invited to the summit but refrained from sending a representative.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is not expected to be present at the summit.
Ziad Nahala, Leader of Islamic Jihad terror organization, lamented that “The Sharm el-Sheikh conference and the conference to be held in Tel Aviv [Israel] indicate the state of the loss of Arab identity in favor of the enemy.”
The two-day Negev Summit, beginning today, is a reflection of Israel’s centrality to the growing consensus in the Middle East, says the Zionist Federation of Australia.
ZFA President Jeremy Leibler said, “This history-making summit demonstrates how far Israeli relations with the Arab Middle East have advanced. It is the result of a decades-long Israeli policy to help and coordinate with any country that desires peaceful relations with it. Turning their backs on the failed hatred of years past, today’s summit proves that more and more Arab countries are realising the great benefit that close relations with Israel brings to them and the entire Middle East.”
ZFA Director of Public Affairs Bren Carlill added, “This summit is the US attempt to reassure its nervous Middle Eastern partners about the impending nuclear deal with Iran. The Middle Eastern attendees at this summit are directly threatened by Iranian malfeasance, which extends far beyond its illegal nuclear weapons programme. I sincerely hope the fears of Israel and its Arab friends will not fall on deaf American ears.”
