The United Arab Emirates is said to be mulling a downgrade in its diplomatic ties with Israel over statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s denying the existence of a Palestinian people, according to the Saudi-owned Arabic Elaph outlet.
Senior United Arab Emirates government official Khaldoon Al Mubarak was sent by UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express the Gulf country’s concerns over the Israeli government’s attitude towards Palestinians.
“The direction of this government goes completely against the Abraham Accords,” Mubarak was quoted as having told Netanyahu.
“The Israeli government’s actions endanger any potential advance [in relations] with the UAE and other Arab countries. Some [Israeli] politicians are even supporting violence. This goes against the spirit of the Abraham Accords and the current practice, and endangers regional stability,” he added, according to Israeli media reports.
The UAE Foreign Ministry had earlier instructed its ambassador to Israel, Mohamed Al Khaja, to snub all official ceremonies with Israeli lawmakers in attendance, Elaph reported.
Smotrich has come under fire over his controversial remarks. He called to “wipe out” the Palestinian village of Huwara, the site of a terror attack in which two Israeli brothers were killed last month and another terror attack on an American-Israeli family this week. He later apologized but not before receiving widespread condemnation from Israel’s Arab allies as well as the U.S.
Earlier this week, Smotrich said it was time the world knew that “there is no such thing as a Palestinian people” and the Palestinian nation is “an invention of past 100 years.”
His grandmother and grandfather, a 13th-generation Jerusalemite, Smotrich went on, was the “real Palestinians.”
Prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Jews in the British Mandate of Palestine were known as Palestinian before. The Muslims living there never referred to themselves that way, and considered themselves to part of the larger pan-Arab nation. The Palestinian national identity, and by extension Palestinian nationalism, emerged after the formation of the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1964.
Netanyahu was slated to make an official visit to Abu Dhabi in January, but Al Nahyan canceled the trip after another firebrand minister, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, visited the Temple Mount. The UAE condemned the move as “storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard.”
Jordan, Egypt and Morocco are also considering downgrading ties with Israel over Smotrich’s views, Elaph reported.
“A source in the Jordanian royal court told the media that the kingdom is in the process of withdrawing its ambassador from Tel Aviv, and is trying to coordinate with Egypt, Bahrain, the UAE and Morocco to take similar steps collectively, to put pressure on the Israeli government to stop harming the Palestinians and flouting stability” in the region- over Smotrich’s “racist statements.”
Jordan’s parliament on Wednesday called to expel Israel’s ambassador, Eitan Surkis, after he was summoned over Smotrich’s comments. At the same time, the parliament displayed a map featuring Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with the colors of the Palestinian flag.