Palestinians fail to persuade Arab ministers to condemn UAE-Israel deal

Palestinians fail to persuade Arab ministers to condemn UAE-Israel deal
# 09 September 2020 19:48 (UTC +04:00)

Palestinian leaders won renewed Saudi support for Palestinian statehood on Wednesday, but failed to persuade the Arab League to condemn last month’s normalisation deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, APA reports citing Reuters.

At a video conference of foreign ministers, the Palestinian leadership softened its own censure of the UAE for the U.S.-brokered Aug. 13 accord, which is to be formalised at a signing ceremony at the White House next week, but to no avail.

“Discussions regarding this point were serious. It was comprehensive and took some time. But it did not lead in the end to agreement about the draft communique that was proposed by the Palestinian side,” Arab League Assistant Secretary General Hossam Zaki told reporters.

The UAE-Israel accord was the first such accommodation between an Arab country and Israel in more than 20 years, and was forged partly through shared fears of Iran.

Palestinians were dismayed by the UAE’s move, fearing it would weaken a long-standing pan-Arab position that calls for Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory and acceptance of Palestinian statehood in return for normal relations with Arab countries.

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