The United States has requested several Arab nations to achieve nonbelligerence agreements with Israel, American news website Axios reported on Wednesday, citing US, Israeli, and Arab sources.
This is part of an effort by the United States to normalize relations between the Jewish state and the Gulf states, which has made efforts of its own to do the same.
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Washington's request reportedly builds off of an initiative led by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Israeli officials said.
Katz raised the idea in a September meeting at the UN with Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi and Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash.
Ambassadors of the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Oman and Bahrain met last week with Victoria Coates, deputy national security adviser for the Middle East and North Africa, according to the report. All four states don't have formal diplomatic relations with Israel.
On Monday and Tuesday, "a US interagency team led by Coates met at the White House with an Israeli delegation led by the Israeli Foreign Ministry. The discussions focused on the initiative for nonbelligerence agreements," according to the report.
A senior Trump administration official declined to comment to Axios on the reported private meetings, but said that the United States "would certainly welcome expanding relationships between our critical allies and partners in the Middle East."
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
