Israeli Minister: “Normalization agreements will not last long”

[CEZAYIRLI]

Ministre israélien : «Les accords de normalisation ne dureront pas longtemps»

Eli Avidar, ministre de la Planification stratégique au gouvernement israélien a déclaré que les accords de normalisation signés entre Israël et des pays arabes, dont le Maroc, pourraient être

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Israeli Minister: “Normalization agreements will not last long”
Eli Avidar, minister of strategic planning in the Israeli government, said that the normalization agreements signed between Israel and Arab countries, including Morocco, could be canceled at any time because they are not built on "solid foundations".

Portrait of Yassine Benargane
By Yassine Benargane
Published on 01/18/2022 at 1:45 p.m.

After the wave of criticism in several Arab countries of the normalization agreements recently signed between Israel and countries in the region, including Morocco, some Israeli politicians are beginning to question their viability. Thus, Eli Avidar, minister in the Israeli government, in charge of Strategic Planning, confided a few days ago to the Israeli media Maariv, by affirming that these agreements would be built on “fragile” bases and that they can be canceled. at any time.

In a lengthy interview with the Hebrew newspaper, the former diplomat and Knesset member said the Abraham Accords, with the exception of those with the United Arab Emirates, are not based on a "stable bilateral axis". "Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco entered into the agreements (with Israel, editor's note) solely because of the consideration they received from the Americans," he said.

Agreements based on "a gift from the United States"

The minister recalled that in 1996, Israel signed the same agreements with Oman and Qatar. “Bill Clinton wanted to help Shimon Peres after the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and put pressure on Qatar and Oman. Both wanted to ally with the United States and not with Israel,” he added.

“In 1996, there was an agreement with Morocco, Tunisia, Oman and Qatar. We didn't have embassies in any of them, and the agreements were partial, because their interest was the United States and not Israel. As the second intifada broke out, Tunisia expelled our representative within 48 hours, Morocco gave him a month, Oman a few days. We stayed in Qatar until 2008.”

Eli Avidar

The Minister, in this sense, expressed his conviction that "the Abraham Accords should be built on a stable bilateral basis". "If they're based on a gift from the United States, then they won't last long," he said.

On the other hand, the minister, a former diplomat and former adviser to former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon expressed his "optimism" about the future of Israeli-Emirati relations. He also highlighted the "exceptional and intelligent leadership" of Abu Dhabi and the role of its "crown prince who has set goals and seeks to achieve them".

Eli Avidar also revealed that former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had no input in signing the normalization agreements. "He did not do anything. The agreements were the work of Trump and his team, who have been very active on this issue,” he said.

It should be recalled that the normalization agreement between Rabat and Tel Aviv was in the form of a Joint Tripartite Declaration signed by Morocco, Israel and the United States in December 2020. Its text, which sets out the reestablishment of ties between the two first, highlights the proclamation of the United States of America on the recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara.