On video: President Herzog arrived on his first visit to Abu Dhabi (photographer: Roy Avraham, recorder: Ben Peretz/L.A.M.)
why is it important
The Negev Forum was the most significant step taken by the previous government in Israel and the Biden administration to strengthen the Abraham Accords and speed up the normalization process between Israel and its neighbors.
The two-day convention in Abu Dhabi will be the first meeting of the working groups established as part of the Negev Forum and will discuss practical regional projects.
"It is important that after the Negev conference we seem to be doing more to meet and talk and that we succeed in taking steps that will bring practical results for the peoples in the region," said Lavala!
A senior official at the US State Department.
reminder:
In March of last year, the Negev Conference convened in Sde Boker.
The conference was attended by US Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Israeli Foreign Minister at the time Yair Lapid and the foreign ministers of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain.
The conference was an unprecedented political event especially in light of the fact that it was organized with only 72 hours' notice.
The conference ended with an agreement to make it a permanent framework for increasing cooperation in the region to which other countries could join.
A forum that was the most significant step on the part of the previous government in Israel.
Netanyahu at the Negev Forum conference (Photo: Government Press Office, Haim Tzach)
In the news center:
The six working groups on food security and water technology, green energy, tourism, education and coexistence and regional security will meet this week in Abu Dhabi for the first time.
A large Israeli delegation led by the Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alon Oshfiz arrived in Abu Dhabi to participate in the discussions. The delegation includes senior representatives from a long list of government ministries.
The United States, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Bahrain and Morocco also sent senior delegations to the event.
Senior officials at the US State Department and the Jerusalem Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the goal of the working groups is to propose practical projects that will encourage cooperation and regional integration in a series of civilian and security issues.
"We feel that it is necessary to show the people in the region that these meetings have meaning for their lives and that we can promote things that will improve their lives," said senior US State Department officials.
The big picture:
Senior Israeli officials said that the recent tensions in Jerusalem surrounding Minister Itamar Ben Gabir's ascension to the Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif) did not harm the preparations for the meeting in Abu Dhabi and that all parties managed to create a separation between the events on the ground and the planned gathering.
"What we prepared for this meeting is not merely symbolic, but concerns ways to create cleaner energy for people in the region, provide them with more food security, increase their access to advanced medical services and ensure that the countries of the region cooperate on security issues. There are other forums where you can discuss the recent events in Jerusalem and this It did not interfere with the preparations," said a senior official at the US State Department.
Senior Israeli and American officials said that the US and Egypt have several times offered the Palestinians to join the working groups of the Negev Forum in order to promote projects that would also benefit the Palestinians.
The issue even came up in a meeting between President Biden and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting in July.
Senior Palestinian officials said they are not interested in joining the Negev Forum at this stage.
"We do not see the Negev Forum as a substitute for the Palestinian issue, but as a process that can help improve the lives of the Palestinians," said a senior official at the US State Department.
The American official added that all members of the Negev Forum are still ready to include the Palestinians in the working groups.
"We were very transparent with the Palestinians about this process and updated them on our plans to show them that they too could benefit from it," said the senior official at the US State Department.
The situation:
The new government in Israel was sworn in when the final preparations for the convention were completed.
Diplomats from the US and other countries in the region feared that Prime Minister Netanyahu would not want to continue the Negev Forum because it was a legacy of his predecessor in office.
New Foreign Minister Eli Cohen did not use the term Negev Forum in his opening speech.
There was concern that this was indeed a change in Israeli policy.
However, in the telephone conversation he had with the American Secretary of State in Lincoln, Cohen made it clear that he supports the Negev Forum and wants to continue it, Israeli and American senior officials said.
"We see the Negev Forum as the next critical step in the entire process of the Abraham Accords. In our talks with our Israeli colleagues, we identified a desire and willingness for continuity," said a senior official at the US State Department.
What they say:
Senior officials in the foreign ministries of Israel and the United States said that they want to make the Negev Forum a long-term process that will expand over time.
"Our expectation is that everyone who will participate in the talks this week will not only be listening but will offer practical ideas from which we will select the most feasible projects from each of the working groups," said the senior official at the US State Department.
What next:
Senior Israeli officials say that the plan is to hold a meeting at the level of foreign ministers of the Negev Forum in Morocco in March, during which the projects selected in the working groups will be finally approved.
The USA, Israel and the other countries participating in the Negev Forum want to add Jordan to it as well and later possibly Saudi Arabia as well.
"As far as Saudi Arabia is concerned, the Biden administration was very clear - we see the normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel as a strategic goal and we are working on it," said the official at the US State Department.
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