Blinken: ‘Great opportunity’ for Israel to normalize relations with Arab countries

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that Israel has an “excellent opportunity” to end a cycle of violence in the coming months as nearly every Arab country favors normalizing ties with Israel.

Blinken assessed that ongoing efforts to reform the Palestinian Authority will also help it become a better partner to Israel.

Gaza’s rulers have launched an attack on Israeli territory that triggered Israel’s war against Hamas, and negotiators have been trying to find a way to end the conflict and establish a long-term peace.

Blinken has made several trips to the Middle East since the war began and has been negotiating with key figures in the region to seek an armistice and a “durable end” to Israel’s war with Hamas.

But those efforts could be undermined as Israel prepares to invade Gaza’s southern border city of Rafah, where some 1.5 million people have sought asylum.

In a message that seemed aimed at Israel, Blinken said he believed “Israel has an excellent opportunity in the coming months to end this cycle of violence once and for all.”

“There are new facts that didn’t exist before,” he told the Munich Security Conference.

“First, there is now a general desire by almost every Arab state to integrate Israel into the region and, if it has not already done so, to normalize relations and provide security guarantees and commitments so that Israel feels safer.”

Blinken said real efforts were also underway to reform the Palestinian Authority, which holds power in the West Bank but not in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The aim, he said, was to make it “more effective in representing the interests of the Palestinian people and becoming a better partner for Israel in the future.”

Nonetheless, “the creation of a Palestinian state is also a priority – one that also ensures Israel’s security.”

Blinken also spoke of “real opportunities” for a safer future for Israelis and Palestinians during a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Munich.

Herzog agreed that opportunities exist but “need to be looked at more deeply.”

But he stressed that Israel must “finish the work of destroying and eradicating Hamas’ infrastructure.”

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from Yonhap News Agency-AFP)