Oman’s foreign minister told an audience in Jordan on Saturday that Palestinians should communicate to Israel that it’s not under threat.
By World Israel News Staff
At the World Economic Forum in Jordan on Saturday, Oman’s Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi declared that Palestinians should “help Israel” to no longer feel threatened, reported the Associated Press.
While Oman doesn’t maintain formal relations with Israel, ties between the nations are warming quickly. In October, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a visit to Oman, where he was welcomed with open arms.
“The West has offered Israel political, economic and military support and it now holds all the means of power… but despite that it fears for its future as a non-Arab country surrounded by 400 million Arabs,” added Alawi, Arutz Sheva reported.
While Alawi stopped short of advocating official recognition of Israel, he explained, “I believe that we Arabs must . . . try to ease those fears that Israel has through initiatives and real deals between us and Israel.”
“[W]e want [Israel] themselves to feel that there are no threats to their future,” he added.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi quickly dismissed the remarks, invoking the “occupation” trope as the source of Israel’s problems with the Arab world.
In February, Netanyahu met with Alawi at a conference in Warsaw that attracted officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, which was unofficially designed to address the regional threat posed by Iran.
Netanyahu was also involved in talks last fall with Oman’s Sultan Qaboos in the capital of Muscat, which led to speculation that Oman was on the cusp of opening up diplomatic relations with Israel.
Alawi’s comments arrive amid a shifting landscape in the Middle East in which Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman appear far more willing to engage with Israel, notwithstanding officially refusing to normalize ties with the Jewish state.