Manama: A senior diplomat from the United Arab Emirates warned Israel against its plan of unilateral annexation of the West Bank and Jordan Valley, saying such a move would upend Israel’s warming ties with Arab world.
In a front page op-ed in Israel’s leading daily Yediot Ahronot on Friday, UAE envoy to the United States Yousef Al-Otaiba appealed directly to Israelis in Hebrew to dissuade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from annexing occupied territory as early as next month. He warned that Netanyahu’s plan to apply sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and all settlements across the West Bank starting July would ignite violence and rouse extremists. It will send shock waves across the region, especially in Jordan whose stability benefits the whole region, particularly Israel, Al-Otaiba wrote.
Annexation will definitely and instantly topple Israeli ambitions for improved security, economic and cultural ties with the Arab world and with the UAE,” he stressed.
We would like to believe that Israel is an opportunity, not an enemy. We face too many common dangers and see the great potential of warmer ties, Al-Otaiba went on.
Israel’s decision on annexation will be an unmistakable signal of whether it sees it the same way,” he stressed. He said annexation would toughen Arab views on Israel.
The envoy rejected any takeover, and added that a declaration to annex constitutes an illegal takeover of Palestinian land.
The UAE, a close US ally, has been a major attention of Israel’s efforts in recent years to improve ties with Gulf Arab countries that share its worries on Iran.
Al-Otaiba was one of the three Arab ambassadors who attended US President Donald Trump’s January unveiling of his Mideast plan, which allows Israel to annex around 30% of the West Bank. The Palestinians immediately rejected the plan.
Several Arab countries had welcomed the Trump administration’s efforts but rejected the plan itself, reaffirming their support for a two-state solution for the Palestine crisis based on the 1967 lines.
The Palestinians want a state in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, territories seized by Israel in the 1967 war.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu has argued that Israel must maintain full control of the Jordan Valley to meet its security needs, according to Trump's plan.
However, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert dismissed Netanyahu’s argument as “nonsense.”
“We can defend our border without the Jordan Valley, and anyone who says it is important for security is lying to the people,” he said in an interview with Elaph, a private Saudi-owned media outlet based in the UK.
Olmert is a harsh critic of Netanyahu, who succeeded him. There have been no substantive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians since Olmert left office.
In an interview with Elaph, a private Saudi-owned media outlet based in the UK, Olmert said that he had reached an agreement with King Abdullah II of Jordan to deploy NATO peacekeepers along the border after an Israeli withdrawal.
Only two Arab countries, Egypt and Jordan, have made peace with Israel.
The UAE government made great efforts to publicize the ambassador’s op-ed far and wide. The Foreign Ministry tweeted about it in Hebrew.
