After accompanying an Israeli delegation to the UAE for historic normalization talks, White House adviser Jared Kushner set off on a tour of other Gulf capitals on Tuesday, looking for more Arab support.
In remarks reported by the UAE state news agency WAM, Kushner said it was possible and "logical" that all 22 Arab states could normalize ties with Israel one day. Asked when the next would normalize ties with Israel, he was quoted as saying: "Let's hope it's months."
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Israel and the United Arab Emirates set up a joint committee to cooperate on financial services at the talks in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, accompanied the Israeli delegation on Monday on the first Israeli commercial flight to the influential Gulf monarchy, which agreed in August to normalize relations.
"Obviously anything could happen, but the reality is that a lot of people are envious of the move that the United Arab Emirates has made," Kushner, who is also Trump's Chief Middle East Adviser, added.
"A lot of people want access to the technology, economy and the advancements that Israel has. Israel is like another Silicon Valley for the Middle East.
"From a faith point of view, many Muslims are excited to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem] through the United Arab Emirates. I think this is going to be the start of something really exciting and my hope is that more and more countries would want this because being apart doesn't benefit anybody.
"We don't solve problems by not talking to each other. So, normalizing relations and allowing people-to-people and business exchanges will only make the Middle East stronger and a more stable place," he continued.
While no other Arab country has yet indicated a willingness to follow the UAE, the richest, Saudi Arabia, allowed the El Al charter flight carrying Kushner and the Israelis to use its air space.
In Bahrain, which houses the US naval headquarters for the region, the state news agency reported that during his meeting with Kushner, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa had praised the role the UAE has played in defending Arab and Islamic interests.
In Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Kushner discussed the need for the Palestinians and the Israelis to resume negotiations and reach a lasting peace, state news agency SPA reported.
The UAE, United States and Israel on Monday urged the Palestinians to "re-engage" with the Israelis, according to a joint statement carried by the Emirati state news agency.
The Palestinians have denounced the UAE agreement with Israel, which they say violates a longstanding pan-Arab position that Israel could normalize relations only in return for land. The UAE says it obtained a major concession from Israel to halt plans to apply sovereignty in certain parts of the West Bank.
According to Kushner, "Israel has agreed to suspend the annexation and suspend the Israeli law to those areas for the time being, but in the future, I am sure that it is a discussion that we will be had, but not in the near future."
The Gulf Arab states are mainly ruled by Sunni Muslim monarchs who consider their biggest foe to be Shiite Iran, and Israel has long held out the promise that their common enemy could bring them together.
In a fiery speech on Tuesday, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said: "The Emiratis will be disgraced forever for this treachery against the Islamic world, Arab nations and Palestine … The treason will not last for long."
"The UAE, along with Israelis and evil Americans like the Jewish member of Trump's family, are working together against the interests of the Islamic world," Khamenei said, referring to Kushner, who is Jewish.
Asked about Khamenei's remarks, UAE Foreign Ministry official Jamal Al-Musharakh told reporters in Abu Dhabi: "The path to peace and prosperity is not paved with incitement and hate speech."
Israeli officials have played up the economic benefits of the UAE deal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said representatives of the two countries had signed an agreement on cooperation in financial services.
"These understandings will help us advance mutual investments and broad cooperation," Netanyahu said.
The state-run Abu Dhabi Investment Office and Invest in Israel, part of Israel's Economy Ministry, issued a joint statement saying they had agreed to set out a plan to establish formal cooperation.
The Gulf state's biggest lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank, later said it would open discussions with Israel lenders Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi.
Amid the historic normalization talks, Kushner spent a morning meeting UAE military officials at an Abu Dhabi airbase that houses US military F-35 jets, advanced stealth aircraft which the Gulf state has long sought to buy despite Israeli objections.
While at the base near Abu Dhabi, Kushner and US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien met Emirati Maj. Gen. Falah al-Qahtani, a top defense official. Thousands of American troops work at the base.
"Our relationship has been built on trust and mutual support," al-Qahtani told reporters. "We have stood together to fight extremism in all of its forms."
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O'Brien added that the US expected a "significant security aspect" in the Israel-UAE normalization, without elaborating. Journalists also toured a joint command center run by both the US and the UAE at the site.
The UAE has said normalization should remove any hurdle blocking the sale of the F-35. Netanyahu said on Monday Israel still opposes selling the jets to the UAE.
