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In what will be a first for Israel, the country is set to host a summit between US Secretary State Antony Blinken, the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt, and Foreign Minister and Prime Minister-designate Yair Lapid starting on Sunday. The two-day conference, to be held at Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev Region, is Lapid’s initiative. Blinken landed in Israel on Saturday night ahead of the summit.
The conference is seen as a display of diplomatic unity against the backdrop of the Iran nuclear negotiations. According to a Saturday report in local media, participants are expected to implore Washington to project strength toward Tehran, both in the nuclear arena and regarding the Islamic Republic’s expansionist and destabilizing actions across the region.
Israeli Ambassador to Bahrain, Eitan Na’eh, noted on Saturday that March 26 marked the 43rd anniversary of the Jewish state’s historic peace agreement with Egypt, signed in 1979.
43 yrs ago on 26.3.79, Israel and Egypt signed the “mother of all peace accords” in the M.E. The late President, A. Al- Saadat showed the way. 43 years later, foreign ministers from at least 4 Arab countries + 🇺🇸 will gather in 🇮🇱 tomorrow, to talk regional coop.🇮🇱🇪🇬🇦🇪🇧🇭🇲🇦🇺🇸سلام
— Eitan Na'eh (@AmbassadorNaeh) March 26, 2022
Last week, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and the Emirati crown prince in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh – another event made possible by the Abraham Accords.
Meanwhile, the head of the Israel Defense Forces’ Strategy and Third Circle Directorate — more commonly known as the Iran directorate — Maj. Gen. Tal Kalman returned late last week from a trip to the Moroccan capital of Rabat during which officials agreed that the IDF would take part in the largest military exercise in Africa and the Middle East, known as “African Lion,” as well as future joint military exercises, including on Moroccan soil.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday night that he had spoken again with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who has been trying to mediate an end to hostilities following the commencement of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine. In a late-night address, Zelensky said that he had held calls with several world leaders, among them Bennett and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
“All the conversations and speeches are so that Russia will understand one thing: We need to reach peace. Russia should also want peace,” Zelensky said.
There was no immediate confirmation from Israel of the conversation, which came several days after the Ukrainian leader spoke over Zoom to Knesset lawmakers. After the address to Israel’s parliament, Zelensky said he was “grateful” for Bennett’s mediation efforts. His chief of staff also praised the Jewish state, and said Kyiv considers Jerusalem “one of the priority venues” for a meeting between the Ukrainian president and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
The latest phone call between Zelensky and Bennett came a day after the latter had spoken with Putin. The Israeli premier has held a handful of calls with both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, separately, seeking to harness Jerusalem’s ties with Kyiv and Moscow to help mediate a ceasefire that will end the war. Bennett traveled earlier this month to the Russian capital, where he became the first foreign leader to meet in person with Putin since the military action began on February 24.
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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett expressed “sorrow” to Saudi Arabia following a wave of Yemen rebel attacks, in a rare public message to a country with which Israel has no official ties.
The State of Israel expresses its sorrow to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after the horrific attack by the Iranian-backed Houthis.
This attack is further proof that Iran’s regional aggression knows no bounds & reinforces the concern of Iran’s IRGC being removed from the FTO list.
— Naftali Bennett בנט (@naftalibennett) March 26, 2022
Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Friday fired on 16 targets across Saudi Arabia as they marked seven years fighting a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, part of a recent spasm of attacks on the kingdom’s oil facilities ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The conflict, widely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
Bennett reiterated Israel’s concerns that the US could remove the “terrorist group” designation of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as part of a framework to restore a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. The reports have sparked outrage from Gulf and Israeli officials, with Bennett stressing recently that such a move is “too high a price” for a return to the JCPOA.
While Saudi Arabia and Israel do not have diplomatic relations, Saudi officials, including crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman, have stressed that the kingdom would be open to normalizing relations if the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is resolved. Israeli flights to and from the United Arab Emirates are permitted to fly through Saudi airspace.
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A Ukrainian refugee was the first woman to cross the finish line in the 11th annual Jerusalem Marathon on Friday. Valentina Verzka completed the run with a time of two hours, 45 minutes and 54 seconds.
“It was a very difficult marathon but we did it,” Verzka told Reuters as a person nearby draped the Ukrainian and Israeli flags over the thermal blanket around her shoulders.
Verzka had asked to participate after fleeing Ukraine to Poland with her daughter, leaving her husband behind to fight. She was set to fly back to Poland on Saturday. “I hope very soon everything is finished and we laughing and smiling again,” said Verzka about Russia’s invasion.
Alongside Versca a party of 40 refugees and immigrants ran in solidarity with Ukraine.
Despite inclement weather, about 25,000 people participated in this year’s running race. The marathon included six different events: A full marathon of 42.195 km, a half marathon of 21.0975 km, a 10 km race, a 5 km race, a 1.7 km race and an 800 meter race.
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