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Tue, Dec 24, 2024 | Jumada al-Aakhirah 23, 1446 | DXB
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In Davos, Israel's president says ties with Saudi Arabia key to ending war in Gaza
His words come days after Saudi foreign minister said that the kingdom agreed regional peace includes peace for Israel
Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting. — AP
Normalising ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia is a key element of ending the war with Hamas and a gamechanger for the entire Middle East, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Thursday at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in the Swiss town of Davos.
“It’s still delicate, it’s fragile, and it will take a long time, but I think that it is actually an opportunity to move forward in the world and the region towards a better future,” Herzog said.
It comes days after Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, said on a Davos panel that the kingdom agreed “regional peace includes peace for Israel". He said Saudi Arabia “certainly” would recognise Israel as part of a larger political agreement.
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“But that can only happen through peace for the Palestinians, through a Palestinian state,” he said.
US Secretary Antony Blinken also reiterated in a talk at Davos that a pathway to statehood for Palestinians could help improve Israel’s security and its relations with other countries in the region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government, however, are opposed to the concept of a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Herzog, whose ceremonial role is meant to serve as a national unifier, said public support for it is low because traumatised Israelis are focused on their own safety following Hamas’ deadly October 7 rampage. He displayed a photo of Kfar Bibas, the youngest Israeli held hostage in Gaza whose first birthday is Thursday.
“When nations come forward and say ‘two-state solution,’ they have to first deal with a preliminary question, which is a core question for human beings: Are we offered real safety?” Herzog said. “Israelis lost trust in the peace process because they could see that terror is glorified by our neighbours.”
Israel's President Isaac Herzog, left, arrives at the Annual Meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos. — AP
Herzog also stressed the global implications of Hamas' attack on Israel, which he said is just one of the proxies of the “empire of evil emanating from Tehran".
Amid the conflict in Gaza, Iran has taken military action against what it called an Israeli intelligence operation in Iraq and launched attacks in Pakistan and Syria. Iran-backed rebels in Yemen known as Houthis also have upended global shipping by attacking vessels in the Red Sea, triggering retaliatory strikes from the US and Britain.
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“The Houthi issue is a number one priority, because it raises the cost of living for every family in the universe, a little tribe of 50,000 people, amassed with the weapons of an empire,” Herzog said.
On Wednesday in Davos, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian insisted Iran’s strike in Iraq, as well as against an alleged militant base in Pakistan, are part of his country’s right to self-defence and accused Israel of “genocide” in its campaign against Hamas, which has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani also condemned the war in Gaza during a Davos talk Thursday, saying “the international community has failed".
But Sudani sought to balance his position between the US and Iran, saying Iraq has “interests” and “strategic partnerships” with both. He also reiterated calls for US-led coalition forces to withdraw from Iraq, saying their presence is no longer justified because the Daesh group is “no longer a threat to the Iraqi people".
The Iraqi and Israeli leaders were headliners in Thursday's flurry of activity in Davos venues where world leaders, corporate titans and other elites mingle.
Norway Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said that a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians “might seem far away right now, but it could also be closer than we think".
"A lot of people who used to pay lip service to this are now actually more worried than in the long run, that absent of such a development, we will have a continued escalation of violence,” he said.
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