Israel and two Arab Gulf States are continuing to normalize their relations with a cargo ship from the United Arab Emirates docking for the first time in the Israeli port city of Haifa this week.
The ship will come to Israel every week and this time it brought iron, firefighting equipment, cleaning equipment, and electronic equipment to the Jewish state.
Secret relations between Israel and the UAE have existed for many years now as Hebrew University Professor Eli Podeh explained during an audio conference this week.
Podeh is working on a book about the secret relations and peace processes between Israel and the Arab states and is worried that the peace deals with Bahrain and the UAE might have a negative impact on the attempts to solve the century-old Arab-Israeli conflict.
In the yet to be published book Podeh will reveal all attempts, including the secret projects, to solve the Middle East conflict and will claim that Israel also missed opportunities to resolve the conflict with the Palestinian Arabs.
In a recent article for The Jerusalem Post Podeh, who is also a board member of Mitvim the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies wrote the following on the effects of the peace deals between Israel and the two Gulf States on the Palestinian issue:
“Israel’s failure lies in its divorce from the Palestinian problem. Israel and the US have significantly weakened the Palestinian Authority, adopting unilateral measures such as US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, US aid cutoff to UNRWA, US President Donald Trump’s peace plan and the annexation idea”
Podeh then continued by pleading for an active dialogue with the Palestinian leadership.
“The peace with the Emirates has saved (Israeli PM) Netanyahu in the short term from the danger of annexation, but Israel’s continued indifference to the Palestinian issue could overshadow the current achievements next year. Israel must address this problem by establishing active dialogue with the Palestinian leadership. The Jewish year 5781 will likely be dedicated to medical issues, but the resolution of the Palestinian problem is also important for the health of Israeli society,” according to the Middle East expert.
This week, however, a high-ranking member of the Saudi leadership revealed a completely different reality about the failures in the peace processes with the Palestinian leadership.
During an interview to UAE-based media outlet Al-Arabiya Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz harshly criticized Palestinian leaders such as Mahmoud Abbas and Saeb Erekat who following the White House peace ceremony in Washington used the words betrayal, treason” and "a knife in the back of the Palestinians" to criticize the agreements between Israel, Bahrain and the UAE.
Prince Bandar said that the behavior of Erekat and Abbas was "completely unacceptable” and that the word "betrayal, treason” and "a knife in the back of the Palestinians" were more applicable to the internal Palestinian power struggle.
Bandar, furthermore, adopted the Israeli position that the Palestinian Arabs had missed every opportunity to achieve peace with Israel
The Prince cited as an example of the Palestinian failures and gaffes the collaboration of the first Palestinian leader Haj Amin al-Husseini with Adolf Hitler before the establishment of the State of Israel and the collaboration between former PLO leader Yasser Arafat with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the First Gulf War in 1991 when Hussein launched Saudi given Scud missiles at the Kingdom
The former Saudi ambassador to the US then recalled the countless attempts to achieve Palestinian unity after Hamas violently ended PA control over Gaza and said the Palestinian leaders had been stabbing each other in the back time after time.
Prince Bandar also revealed that the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat had told him that former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad had threatened to kill the PLO leader if he dared to sign a peace agreement with Israel during the Camp David summit in July 2000.
Bandar also said however that he had noticed that Arafat lied repeatedly over his position on a possible peace agreement with Israel and could have added that it was the current Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas who in 2009 choose to adopt a policy of political warfare against Israel and continues to do so till this very day and that the PA actually is the party that shows indifference to its people’s cause.
The fact that such a high-ranking Saudi official published the truth about the failed peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs could be a first sign that Saudi Arabia will follow Bahrain and the UAE and will normalize its relations with Israel.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday urged the Saudi leadership to consider normalizing its relations with Israel. After a meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud Pompeo said: “We hope Saudi Arabia will consider normalizing its relationships (with Israel) as well and we want to thank them for the assistance they’ve had in the success of the Abraham Accords (Peace agreements between Israel, Bahrain and UAV so far.”
It was the first open conformation that Saudi Arabia had played a role in the peace process between Israel and the two Arab Gulf states and it could indeed be a signal that the oil-rich Kingdom and custodian of the Muslim holy places, Mecca and Medina will follow suit and make peace with Israel.
Saudi Arabia has already opened its airspace for overflights from and to Israel and it is no secret that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) differs from his father King Salman in his views about the Jewish state.
MBS needs Israeli technology for his grandiose Vision 2030 plan to construct a futuristic city along the Red Sea which also involves Egypt.
Israelis with foreign passports have reportedly been visiting Saudi Arabia for almost three years now flying to Jeddah on special flights or with Jordanian Airlines.
There have been other more recent developments that prove that not Israel’s supposed indifference was responsible for the complete breakdown of the negotiation path with the Palestinian leadership.
Palestinian leaders decided to declare the Oslo Accords null and void after Israel announced but didn’t execute the introduction of Israeli sovereignty in parts of Area C in Judea and Samaria and later stopped security cooperation with the Israeli security forces.
The Palestinian Authority also refused to accept medical help from Israel and the United Arab Emirates during the Corona pandemic because it was flown in to Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.
A PA official said at the time that the Palestinian Arab leadership wouldn’t allow itself to be used “as a tool for normalization” with Israel.
The same PA source claimed that the UAE intended to use the aid to improve its ties with Jerusalem on the “pretext” of aid to Palestinians.
Contrary to what Professor Podeh thinks, further normalization between Israel and other Arab countries could force the Palestinian Leadership to return to the negotiation table with Israel.
In this respect it is important to mention that two prominent European countries, France and Germany have now started to change their position on the Palestinian question.
In addition, last week EU Foreign Policy chief Joseph Borrell told PA President Mahmoud Abbas that the EU will not grant extra loans or other financial assistance to the PA anymore as long as the Palestinian leadership refuses to accept tax revenues and customs duties Israel collects for the PA.
Borrell is known for his pro-Palestinian views but now also demanded that Abbas returns to the negotiation table because he considers the plan for “Israeli annexation” in the C-area of Judea and Samaria off the table.