Israel to host summit with US, top Arab diplomats

Israel’s foreign ministry said Friday that it has invited Arab and U.S. leaders for a historic diplomatic summit that will be held in Israel next week. 

In a tweet, the ministry confirmed that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain will arrive in Israel for a series of diplomatic meetings from March 27-28, on the invitation of foreign minister Yair Lapid.

The meeting comes after Israel normalized ties with the UAE and other Arab countries with the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020. 

That treaty was an agreement set up by the Trump administration to launch diplomatic relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Blinken will be joined by his foreign minister counterparts, UAE’s Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Bahrain’s Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani and Morocco’s Nasser Bourita.

The State Department said Thursday that the secretary was scheduled to travel to Israel, the West Bank, Morocco and Algeria. A statement added that he will consult with partners on a range of regional and global priorities, including the Russian government’s war on Ukraine.

The summit will be the first of its kind in Israel and comes as the Russian invasion of Ukraine crosses the one month mark. More details about the summit will be revealed later, the foreign ministry added.

It comes months after Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with United Arab Emirates Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed as he made a historic first official visit by any Israeli leader to the UAE in December.

Blinken’s visit will also focus on “Iran’s destabilizing activities, the Abraham Accords and normalization agreements with Israel, Israeli-Palestinian relations, and preserving the possibility of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, among other topics,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Thursday.

The New York Times noted that the “timing reflects how shared fears of a nuclear Iran — as well as shared concerns about the perceived retreat of the United States from the region, and the opportunities afforded by greater economic ties between Israel and the Arab world.” 

In further normalizing of relationships, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas R. Nides said he will travel to the UAE on Tuesday as high-level officials will participate in the inaugural “Abraham Accords Festival and Game.”

The daylong event planned and hosted by the government of the UAE at Expo 2020 will “bring together national soccer legends and top chefs from all of the Abraham Accords countries.”