JERUSALEM: Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Friday the Israeli prime minister has returned from a visit to the Gulf state of Oman, where he joined the country’s leader in the first meeting of its kind in more than 20 years.
The office said in a statement Friday that Netanyahu had been invited by Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said after lengthy communications.
Israel and Oman do not have diplomatic relations. The meeting was the first between leaders of the two countries since 1996 and former Israeli premier Yitzhak Rabin made a similar surprise visit to Oman two years earlier.
The sultanate has long had a quiet role in fostering negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians and has openly called for the need for a Palestinian state while also acknowledging a need for an Israeli state.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also paid a three-day visit to Oman earlier this week.
While historic, the meeting did not immediately signal a breakthrough in peace efforts because Oman does not have the clout or leverage of nations like Saudi Arabia to strongly advocate for, or push the two sides closer to the negotiating table.
Netanyahu and his wife were joined on the trip by the head of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, his Foreign Ministry director, and other defense officials.
Netanyahu has repeatedly stated in recent years that Israel has developed good relations with several Arab states, despite a lack of official ties.
The two leaders issued a joint statement saying the two sides “discussed ways to advance the Middle East peace process and discussed a number of issues of mutual interest to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East.”
Oman, which sits on the southeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, with Saudi Arabia to its north and Iran to its east, has a long record of being a quiet broker in the region, opting to stay on the sidelines of the rivalry between the two regional powerhouses. Although it is a member of the Saudi-led six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, it did not join in the kingdom in its boycott of Qatar or the war in Yemen.
Its foreign minister made a rare visit by an Arab official to the West Bank earlier this year.
Israel’s Netanyahu pays surprise visit to Oman
Israel’s Netanyahu pays surprise visit to Oman
- Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Friday that Netanyahu had been invited by Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said
- The meeting was the first of its kind between leaders of the two countries since 1996
Turkiye’s Erdogan says Kurdish forces in Syria must lay down arms and disband now
- Turkish leader says laying down weapons is the only way out, he added, and any provocation would be a ‘suicide attempt’
ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Kurdish forces in northern Syria must lay down weapons and disband now to avoid further bloodshed, after Damascus struck a ceasefire with the group and gave them four days to agree on integrating into the central state.
Syria’s Turkiye-backed government forces seized swathes of territory from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria this week, as part of President Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s efforts to bring all the country under central government authority.
The United States, the SDF’s main ally, said its partnership with the group had changed in nature since the emergence of the new government in Damascus, and urged Kurdish fighters to integrate into Syria’s state apparatus.
Turkiye views the SDF as a terrorist organization linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group. It has been engaged in a peace process with the PKK for months and says the group — and its extensions — must disband and disarm.
Speaking to members of his AK Party in parliament, Erdogan said Turkiye welcomed Tuesday’s ceasefire agreement between the SDF and Damascus, adding he hoped the group’s “full integration” would herald a new era in Syria.
“Our hope is for this issue to be solved permanently without any more bloodshed, for the terrorist organization, which is now stuck in some areas in northern Syria, to lay down its weapons, disband, and for there to be no more conflict,” he said.
Laying down weapons is the only way out, he added, and any provocation would be a “suicide attempt.”
Earlier, Erdogan’s office said he discussed developments in Syria with US President Donald Trump in a phone call. He said on Wednesday that their call was “fruitful” and that they spoke about the joint battle against Daesh in Syria.
He also urged Kurds in Turkiye not to fall for “provocations” by militants and said his government would continue to carry out the peace process with the PKK.
