Israel hopes for rapprochement with fifth Muslim country before Trump
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[December 23, 2020]
By Dan Williams
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel is working
towards formalising relations with a fifth Muslim country, possibly in
Asia, during U.S. President Donald Trump's term, an Israeli cabinet
minister said on Wednesday.
The White House has brokered rapprochements between Israel and the
United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco this year. Rabat hosted
an Israeli-U.S. delegation on Tuesday to flesh out the upgrade in
relations.
Asked if a fifth country could sign up before Trump steps down on Jan
20, Regional Cooperation Minister Ofir Akunis told Israel's Ynet TV: "We
are working in that direction."
"I believe ... there will be an American announcement about another
country that is going public with the normalisation of relations with
Israel and, in essence, with the infrastructure for an accord - a peace
accord," he said.
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Administration officials have said they are trying to get more countries
to recognise Israel or warm existing ties to it.
Akunis said there were two main candidate countries to become the next
to move towards normal ties with Israel.
He did not name either but said one is in the Gulf and could be Oman but
would not be Saudi Arabia. The other, further to the east, is a "Muslim
country that is not small" but is not Pakistan, Akunis said.
Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country, said last week it would not
recognise Israel as long as Palestinian statehood demands remain unmet.
Malaysia has signalled a similar policy.
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White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, who accompanied an Israeli
delegation, speaks during a visit to Rabat, Morocco December 22,
2020. Picture taken December 22, 2020. REUTERS/Shereen Talaat/File
Photo
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"Malaysia's firm stance on the Palestinian issue will not change,"
Deputy Foreign Minister Kamarudin Jaffar told the country’s senate
on Wednesday, adding that Kuala Lumpur would not interfere in other
nations' decisions on Israel.
In Dhaka, a foreign ministry official said Bangladesh was not
interested in establishing diplomatic ties with Israel. "Our
position remains the same," he told Reuters.
Oman has praised the U.S.-brokered diplomatic drive but has not
commented on its own prospects of forging Israel ties.
The Palestinians, whose negotiations with Israel stalled in 2014,
fear being sidelined by the normalisation process.
(Additional reporting by Rozanna Latiff in Kuala Lumpur and Rula
Paul in Dhaka; Writing by Dan Williams, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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