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A view of the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. On the screen is Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. Credit: U.N. Photo/Loey Felipe.
 

FEATURED COLUMN

JONATHAN S. TOBIN

Signs of support for coexistence continue to appear. But the Israel-bashing at a U.N. Security Council debate is a reminder that full acceptance is not here yet.

(August 12, 2022 / JNS) Which of these two things is more important when it comes to gauging Arab acceptance of Israel? Is it a Saudi social-media influencer making a viral video playing the Israeli national anthem “Hatikvah” on the oud? Or is it the speech made earlier this week by the Egyptian ambassador to the United Nations denouncing the Jewish state and speaking of Palestinian “martyrs” even after his own government had helped broker a ceasefire between Jerusalem and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group?
It would be nice to think that the oud video tells us more about the future direction of the Middle East. But the speech by Egyptian Ambassador Osama Abdel Khalek shouldn’t be ignored. It demonstrated that even the military government in Cairo that regards Israel as a vital ally in its own struggle against the Muslim Brotherhood and its Hamas allies is afraid that public opinion in the world’s most populous country is still far too drenched in Jew-hatred to publicly stand up for its neighbor.

The Abraham Accords seemed to demonstrate that a sea change was underway in the Arab and Islamic world. After a century of pure hatred, the consensus among Arabs and Muslims that war against Zionism and the Jews was an integral element of their identity has been broken. Their governments were tired of being held hostage by Palestinian intransigence. The decision of the four states that normalized relations with Israel in 2020 as part of the Trump administration’s successful diplomatic initiative—the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan—showed the grip that the Palestinians had on opinion in the region for generations was no longer secure.
Expectations that many more nations would soon join the circle of peace with Israel may have been unrealistic. Still, decisions short of normalization, like Saudi Arabia’s willingness to allow Israeli planes to overfly their airspace, bred hope. Heartwarming gestures like the visit of a group of imams to Auschwitz—led by a senior Saudi cleric—in 2020 and the warmth with which that Saudi social-media influencer has embraced Israel, all show that change is in the air.
Nevertheless, the idea that anti-Israel opinion among Arabs and Muslims is on the way out must be tempered by more than a sense of realism about the pace of change.

Palestinian terror movements still have the sympathy of Western “progressives” influenced by intersectional myths and critical race theory ideas about Israel and the Jews being symbols of “white privilege.” The anti-Zionist narrative is also still part of the catechism of the international “human rights” movement and its major organs, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Just as, if not more troubling, is the evidence that even among those Arab nations that have made peace with Israel, that the embrace of Israel is far from wholehearted or really popular. The authoritarian governments who have normalized relations may see the Jewish state as a much-needed ally against the greater threat coming from Iran, as well as a trading partner that can ease their entry into the global commercial market. But the fact remains that the reluctance of more states to expand the Abraham Accords is not entirely due to the lack of enthusiasm for the project on the part of the Biden administration since it came into office.
There was little sympathy in the region for Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s decision to start a brief war by firing over a thousand missiles and other projectiles into Israel. Indeed, even Hamas—its rival for the support of Palestinian Islamists, and itself dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state—sat out the fighting.
Yet when the situation was discussed at the U.N. Security Council, the first two states that made peace with Israel—Egypt and Jordan—echoed some of the vitriolic rhetoric spewed at the Jewish state by the Palestinian Authority representative.
Jordan placed the sole blame for the violence on Israel and the fact that Jews are allowed to visit the Temple Mount. The Jordanians are considered guardians of Muslim and Christian holy places in Jerusalem and speak of the Jewish presence in the city as illegitimate. They ignored PIJ’s terrorism and the rocket fire that prompted the Israeli response.
Particularly bitter were the remarks of the Egyptian ambassador, who spoke of all Gazans killed in the clashes as “martyrs”—both the majority who were PIJ fighters as well as civilians. He also denounced Israel’s efforts to defend itself against groups that Egypt itself regards as enemies with venom. No mention was made of the fact that the preponderance of those noncombatants who were killed and injured were victims of PIJ rockets and missiles that fell short of their Israeli target and struck Palestinians inside of Gaza.
Even the UAE, which is otherwise a model of cooperation with Israel and which is a member of the Security Council this year, used its opportunity to speak to join in the condemnation of the temerity of Jews in visiting the holiest spot in Judaism, which it referred to as “an incursion into the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa mosque” in Jerusalem.
Does any of that matter?
Israeli diplomats at the United Nations often speak of how their Arab colleagues talk one way about the conflict in public and very differently in private. The United Nations can be dismissed as a mere talking shop with no power. But that ignores the genuine damage that U.N. agencies can do to Israel and to aid those boycotting and trying to destroy it.
Even if Arab statements at the world body were merely a cynical show, the fact that they feel it is necessary to behave this way is not insignificant.
Public opinion in Egypt and Jordan is still heavily anti-Semitic and lags far behind their country’s leaders when it comes to the acceptance of Israel. Popular culture in the Arab world is also still hostile to Israel and Jews. There is no sign of a popular groundswell backing an alliance or closer ties. On the contrary, even governments that have made peace are wary of going too far when it comes to abandoning the Palestinian desire for Israel’s destruction. Authoritarian regimes in Egypt, Jordan and in the Gulf don’t depend on popular approval. But they are acutely conscious that by getting too close to Israel, they are giving ammunition to radicals backed by Iran who seek their overthrow.
Saudi Arabia’s modernizing ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmon, has embraced closer under-the-table ties with Israel though that has stopped short of normalization. But even the Saudis fear the possibility of a restive Arab street. That is accentuated by justified worries that a new and even weaker nuclear deal between the West and Iran, which may be concluded soon, will reinforce the impression that the theocrats in Tehran—and not the moderates in Riyadh or Cairo—are the “strong horse” of the region. A new pact will strengthen Iran’s economy and military, and could also help Iran sway opinion in those states that have relations with Israel.
Recognizing the persistence of Arab and Muslim hostility to Israel doesn’t negate the historic importance of the Abraham Accords. Indeed, as Jason Greenblatt, the Trump administration’s Middle East peace envoy, told me in an interview, the question to ask about the Saudis is not what they haven’t done but the distance they have traveled from their former stance of unremitting hostility.
Still, the optimistic notion that all the barriers between Israel and the Arab and Muslim worlds are coming down is, at best, premature. Jew-hatred is still far more popular than acceptance of Israel. As long as that is true—and the governments that made peace are dictatorial and don’t reflect the popular will of their peoples—the progress that has already been made towards true peace cannot be considered irreversible. That is a sobering thought that should inform Israeli strategy as well as those elsewhere who are under the misapprehension that the conflict over its right to exist is over.
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate). Follow him on Twitter at: @jonathans_tobin.

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Worldakkam – www.worldakkam.com
August 11, 2022

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The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Toh Wensland, announced yesterday evening that a delegation from an international organization visited Palestinian Islamic Jihadist leader Bassam al-Saadi at Ofer Prison in Israel.
 

“Today I sent a UN team to visit Sheikh Al-Sadi in Ofer Prison to follow up on the UN’s promise to maintain peace in Gaza,” Wensland said in a tweet.

He did not provide details of 61-year-old Al-Saadi’s health or prison conditions.
He went on to warn that he “reaffirmed that the ceasefire in Gaza is extremely fragile and calls on all sides to remain calm.”
Last week, the Israeli army killed a Palestinian activist, arrested Al-Saadi after attacking the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied northern West Bank. His arrest led to Israel launching a “preemptive” strike on Gaza on Friday.
 

 

An Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and the Islamic Jihad movement in the Gaza Strip came into effect Sunday night after three days of Israeli attacks that killed 44 Palestinians, including 15 children. .
 

 

On Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Tel Aviv was didn’t commit It hoped to release al-Saadi within the framework of a ceasefire agreement brokered by Egypt, but Arab and Israeli media report this was included in the negotiations.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220811-un-team-visits-bassam-al-saadi-in-israels-ofer-prison/ UN team visits Bassam al-Saadi in Israel’s Ofer Prison – Middle East Monitor

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Sansom Milton

12 August 2022 12:06 UTC – Middle East Eye

Israel’s latest assault on the besieged territory highlights the urgent need for Palestinian unity
 

A Palestinian boy holding an Islamic Jihad flag passes a picture of the group’s leader, Khaled Mansour,
who was killed by an Israeli air strike on 8 August 2022 (AFP)

The latest onslaught on Gaza shows the evolving conflict dynamics at play in Israel/Palestine. The absence of Hamas in this confrontation marked a notable change from previous wars, which have largely been driven by an escalatory logic of attacks between its military wing and the Israeli army.
Last week, Israeli forces arrested Islamic Jihad leader Bassam al-Saadi in Jenin, a city that has become central to resistance in Palestine and is effectively outside the security control of the Palestinian Authority. Days later, the Israeli army assassinated Tayseer al-Jabari, another Islamic Jihad leader, in Gaza and then began bombarding the territory in anticipation of retaliatory attacks.
It is vital that concerted efforts are made to stabilise and transform the situation in Gaza
After the highly destructive 2014 Gaza war, seven years of uneasy, relative calm had prevailed until war broke out in May 2021. Since then, the situation in Gaza has become increasingly volatile. Tensions over Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem have emerged as a conflict trigger, and the confrontation between Islamic Jihad and Israel marks another major flashpoint.
Attacks on Gaza frequently precede elections in Israel, and the timing of this latest assault could be read as an attempt by the Israeli government to bolster the image of Prime Minister Yair Lapid as a tough and decisive leader. Israel’s actions could also be interpreted as an attack on an Iranian proxy, in an attempt to scupper talks to renew the Iran nuclear deal.
Others have suggested the Israeli assault was largely intended to erase the gains made by Hamas in the 2021 war, where it positioned itself as the defender of Jerusalem, strategically linking the situation in Gaza to wider issues affecting all of the Palestinian homeland.
On this reading, the absence of Hamas from the battlefield is seen as a dent in its credentials as a resistance movement and an embarrassment for its inability to govern the actions of Islamic Jihad.
Humanitarian crisis
It is vital that concerted efforts are made to stabilise and transform the situation in Gaza. Urgent action is needed to prevent the further deterioration of a major humanitarian crisis. Gaza has been experiencing a slow-motion humanitarian catastrophe for years, with 80 percent of people dependent on aid, a poverty rate of more than 50 percent, and unemployment at nearly 47 percent.
The latest outbreak of violence could make things even worse. It led to another temporary closure of the Kerem Shalom and Erez border crossings, preventing the movement of people and goods into and out of Gaza. There were stark warnings that, amid the fuel crisis and border closures, Gaza’s hospitals would imminently have to cease operations. Israel has since reopened the borders, which is crucial to ensuring that rehabilitation and reconstruction can proceed.

Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian boy killed by Israeli forces in northern Gaza on 8 August 2022 (AFP)
 
It is vital that the ceasefire holds, and that Gaza is not dragged into another extended period of hostilities. The UN’s Middle East envoy has warned that the “ceasefire is fragile” and that renewed violence would have “devastating consequences”.
It is also important to note that Israel’s ability to carry out short and destructive military campaigns, such as the one we just witnessed, with very low costs politically is a product of dwindling regional and international support for Palestine.
The wave of Arab normalisation with Israel has contributed to this situation, while other world leaders tend to make hollow statements about “standing by Israel” and “its right to defend itself”. This rings especially hollow considering that the targeted assassination of a political leader, followed by pre-emptive strikes, is anything but defensive.

 

 

The need for unity
This reality of declining support for the Palestinian cause underscores the urgency for progress towards Palestinian unity. Israel’s latest military operation might be seen as an attempt to reverse the steps towards Palestinian unity made during the 2021 war, in terms of the renewed linking of issues across the geographical and political divides, from the occupied West Bank, to the 1948 territories, to Gaza.

The latest escalation will surely widen the divide between Islamic Jihad and Hamas, and make the situation more combustible. But in the context of dwindling global support for the Palestinian cause, there can no longer be any excuses for internal divisions, which are a major barrier to establishing an effective political platform that could one day end the reality of occupation.
The deadly violence meted out against Gaza in recent days is a grim reminder that, until justice is delivered for Palestinians, the situation across the country will remain highly volatile. The lives and livelihoods of more than two million besieged Palestinians in Gaza are at the mercy of policy formulas that make a drip-feed of humanitarian and development aid dependent upon assuaging Israeli security concerns.
This formula has been described as “aid for calm,” while more recently the Israeli government has followed a policy of “economy for security” in Gaza. While such measures may provide minimal relief and short-term stability, they are ultimately doomed to fail under the conditions of occupation and blockade.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

Sansom Milton is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies in Doha, Qatar. He is a researcher interested in conflict and humanitarian response with a focus on the Middle East. He was previously a Research Fellow at the University of York in the UK

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Other noticeable items on the agenda included government subsidization of 50% of the cost of an academic degree for all IDF soldiers, and not just the current 75%.
 

By ELIAV BREUER
The Jerusalem Post

URL:  https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-714700 
Published: AUGUST 14, 2022 19:41

Head of the Israel Beyteinu Party Avigdor Liberman at the opening of the party’s campaign, in Neve Ilan, ahead of the upcoming elections, August 14, 2022. (photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

Yisrael Beytenu will promote a law that will require the approval of 90 Knesset members to disperse the Knesset during its first two years, party leader Avigdor Liberman said at the party’s official campaign launch in Neve Ilan’s C Hotel on Sunday.

“We as politicians failed,”? Liberman said. “We are dragging the nation of Israel to a fifth election, and therefore it is important to ensure governmental stability in a simple, not complicated way.”
“We as politicians failed, we are dragging the nation of Israel to a fifth election and therefore it is important to ensure governmental stability in a simple, not complicated way”
Avigdor Liberman, Finance Minister

Like many other parties, governmental stability was the first and most important issue on the campaign’s agenda. Besides changing the Knesset dispersal rules, the party will also promote requiring a two-year budget be passed instead of a one-year budget, and also limit a prime minister to two succeeding terms and prevent someone who has been indicted from running for either prime minister or president.

“In the last government, we managed to pass a two-year budget with a clear order of priorities,” Liberman said. “There has never been a government that managed to do as much in one year as this government, but at the same time, there are quite a few acute issues that we did not have time to realize. With all due respect to the names in the lists, what is really important is the values that we promote.”

Along with stable governance, the party’s agenda included three other points: improving public security, economic growth, and reducing inequality while strengthening Israel’s civil robustness.

Head of the Israel Beyteinu Party Avigdor Liberman at the opening of the party’s campaign, in Neve Ilan, ahead of the upcoming elections, August 14, 2022. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

On public security, the party is pushing to add 3,000 police officers to the Israel Police: 1,000 for the North, 1,000 for the South, and the last 1,000 spread out in municipal police stations, especially in mixed Arab-Jewish cities.

On the economy, the party’s agenda aims to broaden criteria to receive government income support, so that single people over age 26 and those who make less than NIS 8,000 will be eligible.

Asked about the Likud’s economic platform, which Likud and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu announced earlier this month, Liberman said that it was “taken directly from Karl Marx,” since it stipulated that “people receive things for free.”

Other noticeable items on the party’s agenda included government subsidization of 50% of the cost of an academic degree for all IDF soldiers, and not just the current 75% subsidy for combat soldiers; conditioning support for haredi schools on their willingness to teach core curriculums including English and mathematics; amending the Nation-State Law so that it reflects Israel’s Declaration of Independence; and enacting legislation to require that new immigrants be represented in the public sector.
“At the end of the day I estimate that the Change Bloc will form the next coalition”
Avigdor Liberman, Finance Minister

“At the end of the day I estimate that the Change Bloc will form the next coalition,” and Yisrael Beytenu will attempt to make these issues part of its guidelines, Finance Minister Liberman said.

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The Arab News
URL: https://www.arabnews.com/node/2107341/middle-east
Note: This was published June 20, 2022
 
Founded in 1982 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and designated by the US and other Western countries as a “terrorist organization,” Hezbollah is a powerful group in Lebanon. (AFP)

The designation of Hadwan and Al-Shaer forms part of the wider US crackdown on Hezbollah

LONDON: The US Department of State on Monday announced it was offering a reward of up to $10 million for information on Haseeb Hadwan, a senior official in Hezbollah’s General Secretariat, and his office manager, Ali Al-Shaer.
Both men are accused of using the international financial system to transfer money to Lebanon, where it is used to finance the Hezbollah militia.On September 17, 2021, the US Department of Treasury designated Hadwan and Al-Shaer as Specially Designated Global Terrorists in accordance with Executive Order 13224.
As a result, all of their property and interests within US jurisdiction are blocked, and it is generally prohibited for US persons to transact with either man.
The move forms part of the larger US effort to crackdown on the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. As a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, it is a crime to knowingly provide, or attempt or conspire to provide, material support or resources to Hezbollah.
Earlier in January, the US designated Hezbollah-linked financial facilitators Adel Diab, Ali Mohamad Daoun, Jihad Salem Alame and their Lebanon-based travel company Dar Al Salam. This was followed by the designation of Lebanese businessman, Ahmad Jalal Reda Abdallah, on May 12.
In a statement, the Treausury said sanctions continue to have significant consequences in Lebanon, as it faces an unprecedented economic crisis.
As part of Lebanon’s government, Hezbollah is impeding economic reforms and the necessary change demanded by the Lebanese people, the statement added.

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The New Arab Staff

15 August, 2022
URL: https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/trump-gave-israel-green-light-annex-occupied-west-bank

Former President Donald Trump authorised Israel’s annexation of parts of the Palestinian West Bank, according to a leaked letter.

Trump’s peace plan was widely rejected on the Arab street [Getty]

Former US President Donald Trump gave Israel a green light to annex large parts of the occupied Palestinian West Bank, days before announcing his controversial so-called ‘Vision for Peace‘, according to a letter released by Israeli media.
The three-page letter dated 26 January 2020 sets out the Trump Administration’s vision for the Palestinian territories which included Israel annexing large parts of the West Bank and leaving only slivers of land for a Palestinian state, sparking fury on the Arab street.
It would soon become US foreign policy when unveiled in the so-called ‘Trump peace plan’ two days later, which would see Israel take the Jordan Valley regions and annex illegal West Bank settlements.
The plan also demanded other huge sacrifices to Palestinian sovereignty such as giving Israel full control over its borders.
It coincided with a US-brokered normalisation push between Israel and some Arab states – the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

The Palestinians, who were not involved in the ‘Trump peace plan’, slammed the vision as creating a ‘Bantustan-style system’ and not viable. The international community generally supports a two-state solution based on Israel-Palestinian 1967 boundaries and also did not take the plan seriously.
In the letter to former Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump writes “the policies outlined in… the Vision [for peace] regarding those territories of the West Bank identified as becoming part of a future Palestinian state”, according to The Jerusalem Post.
“In exchange for Israel implementing these policies and formally adopting detailed territorial plans not inconsistent with the Conceptual Map attached to my Vision – the United States will recognise Israeli sovereignty in those areas of the West Bank that my vision contemplates as being part of Israel.”
Israel warmly welcomed the peace plan, which was seen as being hugely biased toward Israel and viewed as extinguishing hopes of a two-state solution. Israel has since moved to annex Palestinian areas such as Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem.
The leak comes after years of tense relations between Trump and Netanyahu, despite being viewed as the most “pro-Israel” president in US history.
The Palestinian Authority has slammed the letter, describing it as “official piracy and extension of the ominous Deal of the Century”,
Trump’s advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner appeared to claim that Netanyahu went off script by announcing plans to annex occupied West Bank territories.

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Middle East Monitor
URL: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220816-pa-palestinians-can-make-trumps-promises-part-of-the-past/
August 16, 2022 at 11:12 am

 
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on February 6, 2022 [Palestinian Presidency/Anadolu Agency]

August 16, 2022 at 11:12 am

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Monday that the Palestinians are able to make former US President Donald Trump’s promises to former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “part of the past”. Shtayyeh was commenting on the content of a letter revealed by the Jerusalem Post in which Trump promised Netanyahu that he would approve Israel’s illegal annexation of Palestinian land.
“Israel would be able to extend sovereignty to parts of the West Bank if Netanyahu agreed to a Palestinian state in the remaining territory,” the Jerusalem Post reported Trump as saying in a three-page letter dated 26 January 2020.
According to Shtayyeh, though, “Our people undermined the ‘Deal of the Century’ and can make these promises part of the past.”
Trump’s so-called “Deal of the Century” referred to Jerusalem as “Israel’s undivided capital” and recognised Israeli sovereignty over large parts of the occupied West Bank. Palestinian officials said that under the US plan Israel would annex 30-40 per cent of the West Bank, including all of East Jerusalem.
Under international pressure, Netanyahu didn’t announce his annexation plan as scheduled in July 2020. However, he said that he had only “delayed” the process, not cancelled it.

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Israel Is My State and the Palestinians Are My People,’ Government Minister Esawi Frej Tells TML

MOHAMMAD AL-KASSIM
URL: https://themedialine.org/top-stories/israel-is-my-state-and-the-palestinians-are-my-people-government-minister-esawi-frej-tells-tml/
TheMediaLine.Org
08/15/2022

Esawi Frej, Israel’s regional cooperation minister, was born in Kafr Qasim, east of Tel Aviv, in 1963, the eldest of 12 children. His grandfather was killed by Israel border police in the 1956 Kafr Qasim massacre. An accountant by training and a member of the left-wing, Zionist Meretz party, he was first elected to the Knesset in 2013. He is Israel’s second-ever Muslim Cabinet member.

The Media Line: Thank you for taking the time to meet with us. First of all, I would like to ask you a question related to your presence in an Israeli government that was headed by Naftali Bennett, and the current government [headed by Yair Lapid], which are involved in many ideological and political contradictions. How do you explain your presence in light of where you come from, considering your party and your political thinking and ideology?
Esawi Frej: My answer to this question is very simple. Why do we serve in the Knesset? So we can watch? So we can deliver fiery speeches? We serve in the Knesset to change things, to serve a community. I want to serve my community. I want to change things, so I must be a partner in these decisions. I am part of a government because I am part of a coalition. In politics, there is a coalition and there is an opposition, and we are part of Israeli society. All the parties in the Knesset, Arab and Jewish, are Israeli parties that play the game of politics and run things. I see these things as normal. Being part of a coalition is a normal thing, but the unnatural thing is being part of this particular coalition, with the vast differences that exist within it. Right and Left together means there is a big ideological difference in principle.
TML: The government has many diverse, ideologically contradictory components. Let’s say the dominant character of the government is right wing, which means that if you do not believe, for example, in an increase in settlements, there will still be an increase in settlements. You believe in the two-state solution. The government under former Prime Minister Bennett did not even believe in talking with the Palestinians and their president. How are you serving in a government that doesn’t seem aligned with your ideology?
Frej: True, everything you said is true. We knew him before we entered the coalition, but we always considered the alternative. This is the government that we are part of, not the government of our dreams. This is not the government that I dreamed of. It is completely contrary to my principles, my political ideas, and the political agenda that I have been advocating for decades, but a politician is always faced with choosing between the available options in light of difficult circumstances, the current circumstances. We had a preliminary coalition agreement for the government to refrain from acting on all the issues that were against our ideological agenda. And there were internal conflicts within the government, with each party pushing to implement matters related to its agenda. In this regard, I recognize that this government is the most right wing in the history of the country. It put the Palestinian issue aside. It refused to negotiate with the Palestinians or discuss the issue. I know, I understand that, but we had no other choice. We had to try and influence things from within. Politics is not a science of precise calculations. Politics demands flexibility. You have to know how to react quickly. So, to everyone who directs criticism or questions, I ask him here: Tell me the solution, tell me the alternative. What is the alternative? The alternative was worse, which is why I am satisfied with what I did under the difficult circumstances in which we found ourselves.
TML: Is your decision not to run in the November 1 election final?
Frej: My decision now is that I do not need to return to the political arena. My goal is to make the Left-Center bloc succeed. My goal is to raise the participation rate in the Arab sector so we can be partners in this electoral battle. We can’t sit by and watch. Whatever serves this goal, I will be there. Currently, we are trying to arrange the cards because it is a collective responsibility of good people. The party requires collective responsibility. There are racist extremists with their policies based on hatred of the other. These are the people who are waiting for me; I must stop them. How do I stop them? I want to guarantee the success of democracy and the success of the Center-Left bloc. Let us be clear, without an Arab participation rate of at least 60%, this success is in danger. No one can change this fact. The Arabs make up more than 18% of the eligible voters in the country. Last time less than 50% of the Arabs citizens participated in the vote and the effect was clear. I am very worried that what happens next will be worse. At least in this government, it is true that there has been no progress on the Palestinian issue, and this is a painful thing, but on the internal level, this government did not incite against us as an Arab minority at home. Not like before. Before, all government policy was based on hatred and incitement against the Arab voter. We have not seen it in the current government. Yes, there is a lot that we can try to correct. Life is a process. Imagine, after 73 years an Arab party, an Islamic movement [The United Arab List or UAL], is part of a coalition in the state of Israel, the state of the Jews. Could you imagine it? This is change, a change at the heart of public opinion. This change after 73 years, we need time in order to internalize it.
 
Israel’s 36th government takes the traditional photo at the Knesset on June 14, 2021. Minister for Regional Cooperation Esawi Frej is in the top row, 4th from the left. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)

TML: But the Israeli Jewish community’s acceptance of the presence of this party within the government coalition was not great. There has been much criticism about the participation of [UAL Chairman] Mansour Abbas and the United Arab List into this coalition by the Israeli Jewish community, not the Arab community.
Frej: True, very true, every new thing begins with opposition, but consider the time factor. For 73 years, Arab voters, Arab parties backed the traditional positions, and it’s been the same story. What have we achieved? We have insecurity and violence in our streets; we have a person dying from crime every day. There is no personal security. What have we gotten? Poverty haunts us. Where are the achievements? Steadfast, steadfast, steadfast! What does it mean that I’m steadfast? Let’s try another approach, let’s try another way. Why are we, like ostriches, putting our heads in the sand and saying no? We are part of Israeli society, period, end of sentence. This is the truth; this is the reality, and that’s how we should behave. This is what is required. We are an Arab minority, part of Israeli society, and we must act accordingly. We wanted our Palestinian brothers and our people to have a country because Israel is my state and the Palestinians are my people. I want to connect them [Israel and Palestine] to ensure security for you, for them, and for me, too. Let’s not fool ourselves. For change, you must be part of the political game, not a spectator screaming from behind the fence of the stadium. I want to be a partner in the game. I want to be in the mix. Enough! So, we started to change this year. We did not miss the opportunity; even at the level of the budgets that were approved, the five-year plan [for the Arab sector] is 30 billion shekels [$9.26 billion]. In order for you to bring these sums to Arab towns and villages, you need to plan and approve programs and committees. All this process takes a year. We went through it, and it was time for implementation. I have the ministry; I see it with my own eyes. The time for implementation and the transfer of budgets came, the voices started to rise, and each one [politician] chose his words carefully. Why try to fool people? This government should have stayed in office another year. I agreed to be part of it, and that was the most difficult part of the approval process. If I agree, let me benefit. You entered the government; you should stop playing around. But personal matters and the egos of all these people, the parliamentarians, brought down the government. We have two Arab parties, the United Arab List and the Joint List. I ask myself, what does the Joint List want? What does the United Arab List want: The good of the Arab community at the internal level, and the two-state solution. Palestine and Israel, they want both. Mansour Abbas came and adopted a new approach with strong leadership, even though he did not know how it would turn out. The other party [the Joint List] started throwing abuse at him. Why? Why?
TML: So, you criticize the other approach?
Frej: Yes, for a simple reason. I grew up with the Communist Party. I voted for the Front [Hadash], a communist party, in the early ’80s – ’81, ’82. My first vote was for the Communist Party. I never forget this, my friends. We grew up on the idea of integration, part of Israeli society, Jews and Arabs, and two states for two peoples, and all these things. We grew up on these things. Then came Mansour Abbas and he said, okay, I want to take what you have said and become part of the coalition. Integrated. Why should I utter insult after insult at every opportunity? It is unacceptable. The guy took another approach. He said I want to serve my community through another approach. The plan that was for 73 years didn’t work. Let’s try something new. You can’t criticize every step [Abbas] takes for the sake of criticizing. What happened in the Knesset? The UAL entry into the government did two things on the political level: On the right-wing level, because the government is right-wing, and Binyamin Netanyahu wants to be the father of the right, [Netanyahu is saying,] “I am a right-winger,” so he must support the Kahanists and their ideas. UAL entering the [government] means Netanyahu works as a Kahanist.
TML: And this takes me to something I wanted to ask you. You are a minister in the current government, the second-ever Muslim minister in any Israeli government going back to the establishment of the state. Do you think that Israel is heading toward a radical change regarding the Arab minority in Israel, that it can participate in the government and in decision making?
Frej: It’s possible, but the situation in Israel is getting worse and very worrying. Because when I see opinion polls among the Jewish youth, and I see that the youth up to the age of 35 years, the largest party they support is Likud, and the second most popular is [Itamar] Ben Gvir’s [far-right party], I am forced to draw conclusions. The youth in Israel is heading toward the Right and toward extremism. This of course affects the youth on our side. Every extremism is met with extremism on the other side, action and reaction. I am concerned about this issue, but my first and main priority is the relationship of Arabs and Jews within the state because I see that every peace process, whether with the Palestinians or the Emirates or Morocco, without internal security and special and healthy relations between Arabs and Jews, won’t happen. Things have to go on. In my opinion, the most important thing for us in the country is the relations between Arabs and Jews. I mean, there are Arabs living in every Jewish town, in Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Haifa, Bat Yam, in every place, yes. It’s rare in Israel, very rare, to find a place where there are no Arabs, rare! Now there are thousands of Arabs living in Karmiel, Haifa in every place. The Arabs are part of the state’s mosaic. The relationship between Arabs and Jews should be a good, good, good relationship because I see myself there. Because if the mosaic guarantees this good relationship, it is possible for us to find peace agreements and expand the circle of security and peace; it will be easy for us if that happens.
 
Meretz Party lawmaker Esawi Frej, right, speaks during consultations with then-President Reuven Rivlin on forming an Israeli government on March 23, 2015. (Mark Neyman/GPO)

TML: You just returned to the country a week ago. Tell us about your visit to Morocco. It was not the first. What are the projects that you are undertaking as minister of regional cooperation? We have recently seen several other ministers from this government visiting Morocco.
Frej: Look, you go where you are wanted. You go where you find a warm reception. You go where you find a smile, you go where they invite you. Where they don’t invite you, you don’t go. Morocco has warm ties with Israel. Do not forget that more than a million Jews of Moroccan origin live in Israel. I mean, the relationship between the countries is based on friendship. Where the relationship is warm, it becomes stronger. Morocco will have a major and pivotal role in the region because of its closeness to Israel and the Palestinians. Peace between governments is a beautiful thing that starts from there, but in order to guarantee this peace and to feel this peace, there must be peace between peoples. How does peace between peoples happen? Through joint activities, mutual visits, discussions, all these things. I see myself how individuals respond to other individuals, community to community, business to business. Because if trust is built and there is trust between peoples, everything will be very easy. In Morocco, as part of my ministry’s activities, we had several meetings to build regional cultural, artistic, and theatrical cooperation, to strengthen the bond and the relationship between the two countries, and the familiarity of the societies with each other. If I contribute 1% to this effort, this is a big thing. I felt during my visits a desire and love from the people of Morocco to know us. I saw the extent of Morocco’s commitment to security and stability in the Middle East and the renewal of the peace process, and this is something that is important to me. And another point that is very interesting: This was in Morocco, a country with Arabs, Berbers and Jews.
TML: You will travel soon to the United Arab Emirates, to the city of Abu Dhabi. You go there regularly. You have good relations with Emirati officials and the head of state. What is the purpose of this visit? What do you want to discuss, and also tell us about the relationship between you and Emirati officials, and between the Emirates and Israel?
Frej: Look, you asked many questions with one question. I will answer one. We have a strong and solid relationship with the Emirates and the brothers from the Emirates and a common interest in a win-win situation. Indeed, I consider myself the son of the entire Arab world. I am Palestinian, I am Egyptian, I am Jordanian, I am Emirati, I am Moroccan, I am an Arab, the son of the entire Arab nation, and I believe we must support every peace process and rapprochement with any Arab country with all our strength because it is a guarantee for our existence. As the son of an Arab nation, I represent the entire Arab world here. The Emirates is an open country, a friendly country. I have been impressed in my visits to the Emirates and my interviews with Emiratis by the extent of the willingness to strengthen relations on the basis of mutual benefit.
TML: In what areas can cooperation advance between Israel and the United Arab Emirates?
Frej: Every field that can benefit the two countries. For example, the energy and water project that was signed with Jordan will benefit the Emirates, Israelis, Jordanians, and the whole region. There’s the issue of transportation and the Jordan Gate industrial zone in the North [spanning the Israel-Jordan border near the Jordan River Crossing/Sheikh Hussein Bridge]. This will recreate the Silk Road. It will build a new Silk Road, like the old one between Haifa and Jordan to the Gulf, and the UAE is a part of this plan. I am continually surprised by the Emiratis. The Emiratis are smart people. They consistently think about how to turn every commercial relationship into a link between people. Through my ties, I have strengthened my relationships with officials into strong personal ones. We hope that little by little − we will need a little patience − we can strengthen the relationship between individuals and create the proper atmosphere. I have faith in peace and the Abraham Accords, Palestine, the Emirates, and Bahrain.
TML: Peace between whom?
Frej: I am speaking about myself as an Arab. Take the word “normalization.” It is a positive word in every language of the world – “normalization of relations between individuals” − except for Arabic, where it is a bad word, demonized. But is there peace without normalization?
TML: Opponents of normalization say that the Palestinian issue must be resolved first, and then normalization?
Frej: It’s OK, let me answer them. For more than 70 years, we have not been able to reach solutions. I want to change direction. I want to make peace with the Arab countries and see if the solution comes through them. For 70 years, there has been no progress, I am not committed to one solution. I think there is room for progress if we change our approach. Countries have their interests, and everyone works for their interest. An atmosphere of peace must be created in the region because an atmosphere of peace prevails over an atmosphere of war. Let’s think how to bring security and stability in another way. There is a political movement called the Abraham Accords, and I want to be part of the political movement.

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