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UAE Foreign Minister says Arab boycott is wrong
Anwar Gargash, the United Arab Emirates’s (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, has said that “the Arab countries’ decision not to have relations with the State of Israel was wrong”.
Speaking to the Ideas Abu Dhabi Forum alongside former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Foreign Minister also predicted that relations between Israel and the Arab states would be strengthened in the near future.
Gargash said: “There is no doubt that there are deep political disagreements, but this does not contradict the fact that open channels of communication with Israel must be left to all parties who can benefit from them.”
He anticipated increased contact between Arab countries and Israel, such as a: “Small cyber deal here or an agricultural deal there or a visit by the prime minister”.
The Foreign Minister also questioned the viability of Palestinian statehood, in a rare break from the long standing Arab consensus. If the conflict continues, it will witness a “strategic shift” toward giving equal rights to Palestinians in Israel “because a two-state solution will no longer be feasible,” Gargash told the Dubai newspaper The National.
“I think the conversation in 15 years’ time will really be about equal rights in one state. I know that this conversation is there right now but it’s on the margins. But this conversation will shift because a two-state solution will no longer be feasible because a sort of reduced rump state will no longer be practical,” he added.
Gargash’s comments come days after the US recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. That move prompted a senior Israeli official to suggest this week that Israel could be granted similar recognition for Israeli sovereignty over other territories captured during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Last month, special advisor to the US President, Jared Kushner, visited the UAE and met with the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed in an effort to generate support for the economic component of the much anticipated US plan for Israeli-Palestinian talks.
Israel and the UAE do not have diplomatic relations, despite a new Israeli diplomatic mission opening in Abu Dhabi in 2015. Israeli ministers and politicians have visited Abu Dhabi recently, including Communications Minister Ayoob Kara, Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev and Labour Leader Avi Gabbay.