WarSclerotic

TUNIS, Tunisia — Leaders meeting in Tunisia for the annual Arab League summit on Sunday were united in their condemnation of Trump administration policies seen as unfairly biased toward Israel but divided on a host of other issues, including whether to readmit founding member Syria.

Representatives from the 22-member league — minus Syria — aim to jointly condemn US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Israeli control over the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 war, and Trump’s decision last year to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

At the opening of the summit, King Salman said Saudi Arabia “absolutely rejects any measures undermining Syria’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights” and supports the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

He added that Iran’s meddling was to blame for instability in the region.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz attends the opening session of the 30th Arab League summit in the Tunisian capital Tunis on March 31, 2019. (Fethi Belaid/Pool/AFP)

One of the few things that have united the Arab League over the last 50 years is the rejection of Israel’s control of the Golan Heights as well as East Jerusalem and the West Bank, which Israel also gained control of in the 1967 war and which the Palestinians want for a future state.

The international community, including the United States, largely shared that position until Trump upended decades of US policy by moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem last year and recognizing Israel’s 1981 extension of Israeli law to the strategic Golan plateau earlier this month.

The Arab leaders meeting in Tunisia are expected to issue a statement condemning those moves but are unlikely to take any further action.

That’s in part because regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have cultivated close ties with the Trump administration, viewing it as a key ally against their main rival, Iran. Both face Western pressure over their devastating three-year war with Yemen’s Houthi rebels, and Riyadh is still grappling with the fallout from the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents last year.

Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said Saturday that Arab ministers had voiced support in a preparatory meeting for a declaration that Trump’s Golan move violates the UN Charter, which prohibits acquiring territories by force.

In Syria, small protests against Trump’s Golan move were held in different parts of the country and state media criticized the Arab summit. “The Golan is not awaiting support from the Arabs, and not a statement to condemn what Trump has done,” the Thawra newspaper said in an editorial that accused Arab leaders of taking their orders from the US and Israel.

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani attends the opening of the 30th Arab Summit in Tunis, Tunisia, March 31, 2019. (Fethi Belaid/ Pool photo via AP)

This year’s summit comes against a backdrop of ongoing wars in Syria and Yemen, rival authorities in Libya and a lingering boycott of Qatar by four fellow League members. Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir skipped the meeting as they contend with mass protests against their long reigns.

The Arab League is expected to consider readmitting Syria, a founding member that was expelled in the early days of the 2011 uprising against President Bashar Assad. But officials speaking ahead of the meeting said it was unlikely Syria would be welcomed back anytime soon.

The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus last year, and other Arab states have expressed support for restoring relations. But Saudi Arabia and Qatar have actively supported the rebels trying to overthrow Assad, and many other states view his government as an Iranian proxy that should continue to be shunned.

In a rare sign of easing tensions across another regional rift, King Salman and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sat at the same sprawling table when the heads of delegations met Sunday. It was the first time the two leaders have appeared in the same room since Saudi Arabia led the boycott of Qatar nearly two years ago over Doha’s ties to Iran and its support for regional Islamist groups.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin later this week, his office announced on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister’s Office did not provide further details about the meeting, which is set to take place Thursday in the Kremlin — five days before Israel’s Knesset elections.

Russia confirmed the meeting.

“An agreement has been reached that on April 4 Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will fly to Moscow for a brief working visit. On April 4 such brief working talks will be held and the sides will synchronize their watches,” according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Putin and Netanyahu spoke on the phone on Monday and discussed “regional issues,” the PMO said that day, without elaborating.

Netanyahu has boasted of his close personal ties to world leaders, including Putin, during the current election campaign, arguing that his diplomatic skills are unrivaled.

The last meeting of the two leaders took place in late February in the Russian capital, and marked the first significant encounter between the two since a major spat developed over a downed Russian spy plane in September. Even though the plane was shot down by Syrian air defense while aiming at an Israeli jet that was targeting an alleged Iranian installation, Moscow blamed Israel, saying the IAF used the Russian aircraft as cover and did not give the Russians proper warning of its planned strike in Syria.

Israel denies both charges.

At the time, Netanyahu stressed Israel’s absolute commitment to continue to act to thwart Iran’s efforts to military entrench itself in Syria. Tehran and Damascus are close allies of Moscow.

“The greatest threat to stability and security in the region comes from Iran and its proxies,” Netanyahu told Putin in February 27. “We are determined to continue our aggressive activity against Iran, which calls for our destruction, and against its attempts to establish itself militarily in Syria.”

Syria is likely to dominate Thursday’s talks as well, including the matter of the US administration’s recognition last week of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Moscow condemned the decision, reiterating that it considers the territory part of Syria.

Netanyahu had credited his close ties with Putin for the success of a system allowing Israel to carry out strikes in Syria without becoming entangled with Russia, which is allied with Syria’s President Bashar Assad, but those ties reportedly took a hit in the wake of the spy plane incident.

After the February meeting, a minor disagreement over Moscow’s offer to host Israeli-Palestinian peace talks ensued. The Russian embassy in Tel Aviv said that the issue had been raised during the trip, but an Israeli official later denied this.

Quoting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the embassy’s statement said that “during Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Moscow, the situation in the Israeli-Palestinian settlement was discussed. We reaffirmed our position on Russia’s interest in overcoming the deadlock in this matter as soon as possible.

“Our proposal to host leaders of Israel and Palestine remains relevant. We believe that it would be at least a very important step in restoring confidence. Without this, it is impossible to count on further progress in the Israeli-Palestinian settlement,” it  said.

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Russia in Israel

✔@israel_mid_ru

During PM #Netanyahu‘s visit to #Moscow (27/02) the situation in the Israeli-Palestinian settlement was discussed. We reaffirmed our position on #Russia‘s interest in overcoming the deadlock in this matter as soon as possible, #Lavrov said. https://bit.ly/2tXs1hj  -1/3-

But in response, a senior Israeli diplomatic official told Hebrew media that “the issue was never discussed.”

During the public part of the February meeting, Putin welcomed his Israeli guest, but did not specifically mention Iran or Syria in his remarks. “It is very important that we continue to cooperate. Russia was a supporter of the establishment of Israel. We are happy to talk about the situation in the region and the security issue,” he said.

Times of Israel staff and agencies contributed to this report.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told Arab leaders on Sunday that the United States will tell Israel to annex part of the West Bank.

Abbas made the comment less than a week after US President Donald Trump formally recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, but did not say when he expected the US to advise Israel to make the move.

“[The US] illegitimately announced its recognition of Israel annexing the occupied Syrian Golan… which we and the whole world reject. What is coming from the United States is even more dangerous,” Abbas said in a speech to the opening session of an Arab League summit in Tunisia. “It will tell Israel: ‘Annex part of the Palestinian land, give what remains of it self-rule and grant the Gaza Strip a nominal state for Hamas to play with.’”

Israel has not formally annexed the Golan, but rather has extended its laws to the territory, a measure considered tantamount to annexation.

A senior Israeli official said last Tuesday that US recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan will help the Jewish state lay claim to other lands it captured during defensive wars. The official, whom the New York Times named as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, appeared to be hinting at potential future West Bank annexation.

Also last week, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman warned American Jews that a future administration will not understand Israel’s need to maintain security control over the West Bank, suggesting that Trump will not force Israel to relinquish the territory that Palestinians envision as their own in a future state.

Right-wing leaders such as The New Right’s Naftali Bennett have long advocated for Israeli annexation of the so-called Area C, some 60% of the West Bank.

Arab countries including Saudi Arabia have panned the US for recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan.

Israel captured the Golan and the West Bank in the 1967 Six Day War.

Abbas also urged Arab states to caution countries against moving their embassies in Israel to Jerusalem.

View of the US Embassy in Jerusalem’s Arnona neighborhood, May 13, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

“We call on you again to warn against Israel’s attempts to push some countries to relocate their embassies to Jerusalem,” he said. “This issue requires that our states inform those countries that if they do that, they will be violating international law and legitimacy and endangering and harming their political and economic interests and relations with us.”

In the past year, despite fierce Palestinian opposition, the US and Guatemala have opened embassies in Jerusalem. While the Palestinians have severed ties with the White House and cut off other Trump administration channels, Arab states have made no such moves.

The Palestinians have said they hope to build their future capital in East Jerusalem. Israel has stated that the entirety of Jerusalem is its sovereign capital.

In his remarks, the PA president also appealed to Arab countries to help the Palestinians in overcoming a major budgetary shortfall.

“We urge you to work to activate previous Arab League summit decisions pertaining to providing a financial safety net” to the Palestinians, he said. “We ask you not to give up on us.”

An Arab League summit in Kuwait in 2010 approved a measure to grant the Palestinians $100 million monthly, if Israel withholds tax funds that it collects on their behalf.

In February, Israel started to implement a new law that allows authorities to withhold taxes from Ramallah equivalent to the amount that they determine the Palestinians pay to security prisoners, including terrorists, and the families of dead terrorists.

The Palestinians have protested the law, refusing to receive any of the taxes Israel gathers for them on a monthly basis, as long as the Jewish state does not transfer them their full amount.

The taxes Israel collects and transfers to the PA make up hundreds of millions of shekels, more than half of its monthly budget.

PA Finance Minister Shukri Bishara recently announced a series of austerity measures to mitigate the impact of the lack of funds on government operations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday told visiting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro that he hopes Brazil’s decision to open a trade office in Jerusalem will be the first step in the relocation of its embassy to the Israeli capital.

The opening of the office — announced earlier in the day — was strongly denounced by the Palestinian Authority, which said it will recall its senior envoy to Brazil in protest.

Earlier on Sunday, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the new office in Jerusalem will “promote trade, investment, technology and innovation as a part of its embassy in Israel.”

Bolsonaro has previously pledged to move his country’s embassy to Jerusalem, but the relocation appears to be on hold and he has made no mention of the possible move since arriving in the country.

“I congratulate you on the decision to open a trade and developing technology office, an official office of the Brazilian government, in Jerusalem,” Netanyahu said at a press conference on Sunday night after meeting with Bolsonaro at the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem.

“I hope that is a first step toward the opening, in time, of the Brazilian embassy in Jerusalem,” Netanyahu continued.

During meetings between the leaders and senior officials, the two countries signed six bilateral agreements, including on defense cooperation, public safety and technology.

Said Netanyahu: “We signed many agreements but the most important agreement is the agreement in the heart. We feel a partnership of values and of outlook in all areas.”

“Brazil has taken a turn,” Bolsonaro said. “Ideological issues are no longer relevant. We want to intensify our trade with everyone.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets visiting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro after his arrival in Israel, March 31, 2019. (Haim Tzach/GPO)

The PA Foreign Ministry responded by saying it intends to recall its top diplomat in Brasilia in protest of the announcement.

“We will be communicating with our ambassador in Brazil in order to recall him for consultations and in order to take the appropriate decisions to confront such a situation,” a ministry statement said.

The planned trade mission is “a brazen violation of international legitimacy and resolutions, direct aggression against our people and its rights and an affirmative response to Israeli-American pressure aimed at reinforcing the occupation, settlement building and the Judaization of occupied Jerusalem,” the statement continued.

Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi tweeted that those who are following US President Donald Trump in his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital are in violation of international law.

“Brazil’s Bolsonaro opened a diplomatic ‘business office’ in Jerusalem following Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Honduras who also disingenuously tried to skirt the issue of Israel’s illegal annexation of Jerusalem,” she wrote. “Trump and his ilk are in violation of International Humanitarian Law and are perpetuating conflict.”

View of the US Embassy in Jerusalem’s Arnona neighborhood, May 13, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

So far, the US and Guatemala are the only countries to move their embassies to Jerusalem. Paraguay moved its embassy to the city last year, but has since relocated it to Tel Aviv.

In recent weeks, several countries have opened or announced plans to open trade or cultural centers in the capital, including the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia.

Bolsonaro will walk a diplomatic tightrope during the three-day visit as he seeks to shore up ties with Netanyahu while avoiding angering key Arab trade partners.

Months after promising to move the embassy Bolsonaro has yet to announce a timetable. Moving the embassy would please Bolsonaro’s evangelical Christian support base, but would also risk provoking commercial retaliation from Arab states, some of which are major importers of Brazilian meat.

Western Wall visit

Bolsonaro was scheduled to visit Jerusalem’s Western Wall alongside Netanyahu on Monday — a controversial move in itself.

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the first high-ranking American official to visit the Western Wall, accompanied by an Israeli premier. Trump is the first US president to visit the site.

Such a visit by Bolsonaro could be taken as tacit approval of Israel’s sovereignty over the site, one of the holiest in Judaism, but directly adjacent to the flashpoint Temple Mount compound, the most sacred site in Judaism and third holiest in Islam.

While Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital, Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. The Palestinian leadership froze contacts with the White House after Trump’s move of the US mission.

Adam Rasgon contributed to this report.