An Israeli flag flies in a street in front of the Ibrahimi Mosque or the Tomb of the patriarchs, in the West Bank town of Hebron, on May 26, 2022. (HAZEM BADER / AFP)
JERUSALEM – Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen announced on Monday his plan to attend a conference in March with his counterparts from Arab countries that have normalized relations with Israel.
Cohen, who took office last week in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition government, said the conference will be hosted by Morocco, according to a statement issued by the foreign ministry.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen was referring to the Negev Forum, a foreign ministerial-level framework established by Israel, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, the UAE and the United States in 2022 to develop Israeli-Arab relations
The ministry's director-general is scheduled to attend a working meeting next week with Arab counterparts in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, to prepare the meeting, he added.
Cohen was referring to the Negev Forum, a foreign ministerial-level framework established by Israel, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, the UAE and the United States in 2022 to develop Israeli-Arab relations, especially after the normalization Abraham Accords Israel reached with Bahrain, Morocco and the UAE in 2020.
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"Expanding the Accords to other countries is not a matter of 'if' but of 'when,'" Cohen said, adding Israel's ties with the Arab countries resulted in $2.85 billion in trade in 2022 and "a significant contribution to security … and regional stability."
Netanyahu, who was sworn in for a sixth term last week, has expressed hope of forming official ties with Saudi Arabia. In the past, Riyadh has conditioned any diplomatic progress with Israel on progress toward a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.