Tag: Gulf states

The past week has seen the release of the Trump Administration's US$50 billion "Peace to Prosperity" economic vision for the Palestinians, and the holding of a "workshop" in Bahrain dedicated to encouraging and further developing this plan, with the participation of many Arab states.

The increasing momentum of the US “maximum pressure” policy has prompted Iran to react more aggressively of late. 

The focus on Ramallah’s refusal to engage with a US administration it views as hostile misses a very important point: the mere fact that the peace proposal’s rollout will take place in an Arab capital is nothing less than a sensation.

On the ground, the Middle East looks more like a chessboard, with Iran and its allies and proxies facing off against American allies.

The recent decision by several Arab States to designate a number of Qatari-hosted Islamists as terrorist entities has once again raised the issue of Qatari support for both violent and non-violent Islamists.

On the stage and behind the scenes, there seemed much more appetite for normalisation with Israel. Oman’s Foreign Minister said it quite clearly when he called on the Arab world to “come to terms with the reality that Israel is a fact of life in the region”

Some of the Israeli officials involved in the covert ties with Oman could not help but wonder why is the Sultan suddenly willing to have such a public and broadly covered visit now? The answer to that will not be found in Jerusalem.

Today's Update features two pieces suggesting there may be hopes for a different model of moving toward a two-state Israeli-Palestinian peace. It also includes an analysis of the significance of Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu's surprise visit to Oman last Friday.

A new Israeli report (February 2018) reveals a dramatic trend of expanding nuclear capabilities among Arab countries over the next few years... Dozens of nuclear reactors are in various stages of planning in the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Algeria, Tunisia and even Sudan (led by the wanted war criminal, Omar al-Bashir).

The United Nations Security Council voted to renew the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission in Lebanon for another year, one day before its mandate was set to expire. The UNIFIL force... is supposed to enforce UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which among things, bars all forces other than the Lebanese Army from southern Lebanon. However, Israel says UNIFIL has increasingly turned a blind eye to a massive Hezbollah presence in the area.