Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu celebrated his recent peace deal with his United Arab Emirates country and he replied that deals with other countries in the region could be possible.
In an interview with Eric Shawn of Fox News, Netanyahu expressed hope for a prosperous future for Israel and its Arab neighbors, something that was once seen as an exquisite opportunity.
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“When we work together, we can do wonderful things, endless things,” Netanyahu said, “for the benefit of our people, their well-being and their security.”
The prime minister would not say which Arab nation would be next, but he placed the possibility that more good news could be on the way.
“All I could tell you is that I have spoken to Arab leaders,” he said, referring to a public visit he made to Oman. “And I can tell you that it’s not the only meeting I’ve had in the region.”
Oman and Bahrain have expressed support for the deal, as has Egypt, which signed its own peace agreement with Israel in 1979. The only other Arab country to make peace with Israel is Jordan, which signed a deal in 1994.
Netanyahu said the deal with the UAE – the first of its kind with a Gulf state – “is good for peace, good for security, good for prosperity.”
Netanyahu said Israel and the UAE are “two of the most advanced economies in the world” and “two of the most moderate” countries that share the common goal of opposition to Iran and terrorism.
He said Israel’s willingness to stand up for Iran was an appeal to Arab countries such as the United Arab Emirates.
“No one wants to make peace with a weak country,” he said, “everyone wants to make peace with a strong country.” Later in the interview, Netanyahu said that countries that once saw Israel as an enemy now see the Jewish state as an “indispensable ally.”
Netanyahu also awaited a UN decision not to extend an arms embargo on Iran, calling it “absolutely scandalous.”
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Conventional wisdom in the past had been that peace between Israel and other Arab countries would not happen until Israel brought peace with the Palestinians. Netanyahu said the agreement with the UAE had that idea on its head, and showed that the opposite could be true, as Arab countries see themselves being better served by having ties with Israel.
“I think Arab countries are coming around to see that they cannot be held hostage by the Palestinians,” he said. “They have their own interests to develop peace with Israel, to change technology, to change things like the development of the coronavirus vaccine.”
Relying on the Palestinians to make peace first, he argued, would get no one anywhere.
“Look, if you give the Palestinians a veto on peace between Israel and the Arab world, we will never have peace with the Arab world because they refuse to have any kind of realistic arrangement,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu praised President Trump’s plan for peace with the Palestinians, calling it “the only realistic proposal” that has happened in decades. He also predicted that if Israel made peace with more of the Arab world, then Palestinians would “come in a more realistic way.”
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President Trump had facilitated the agreement between Israel and the UAE, and Netanyahu was grateful for Trump’s help in making it happen.
“We value the help of President Trump and the United States deeply, deeply in the progress of this peace and further peace actions,” he said.
