Arab countries attempted to add provisions to give legitimacy to the UAE- Israel deal in their 3 hours discussion.
Palestinian leaders again won Saudi support for Palestinian statehood on Wednesday but failed to convince the Arab League to condemn last month’s normalisation deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). At a video conference of foreign ministers, the Palestinian leadership softened its criticism of the UAE over the US-brokered August 13 accord – to be formalised at a signing ceremony at the White House next week – in the hope of getting more Arab support, but did not succeed.
“Discussions regarding this point were serious. It was comprehensive and took some time. But it did not lead in the end to agreement about the draft resolution that was proposed by the Palestinian side,” Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki told reporters.
According to a Palestinian diplomatic source, the Arab League dropped the draft resolution condemning the controversial Israeli-UAE agreement. Palestine and Arab countries agreed to include an emphasis in the final press release on commitment to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, the two-state solution, and the land-for-peace principle, Palestinian Ambassador Muhannad Aklouk told local news agency Maan. The UAE-Israel accord was the first such kind of treaty between an Arab country and Israel in more than 20 years, and was forged partly through shared fears of Iran.
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Palestinians were dismayed by the UAE’s move, fearing it would weaken a long-standing pan-Arab position – known as the Arab peace initiative – that calls for Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory and acceptance of Palestinian statehood in return for normal relations with Arab countries.
“We have asked to have a clear condemnation of any breaking out of the Arab peace initiative and we didn’t get it,” said Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki in comments published by the Palestinian WAFA news agency. He further said, “But we also succeeded in preventing the issuing of any statement that supports or allows the Emirates to go to Tuesday’s signing with Arab backing for normalising ties with Israel.”
Foreign minister Prince said Riyadh supported the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the borders in place before the 1967 Middle East war, with East Jerusalem as its capital, according to the statement. The United States, Israel and the UAE have urged Palestinian leaders to re-engage with Israel. On a trip to the Emirates, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner said Palestinians should not be “stuck in the past.”
In a video conference meeting, Maliki referred to the accord as a “surprise,” and an “earthquake” for Arab harmony, and voiced dismay at the failure to call an emergency Arab summit after the deal was announced.
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