Arab leaders delivered a strong and united message to two regional players on Wednesday during the annual Arab League Summit meeting in Jordan.
To Israel, Arab leaders gave a definitive answer to the Israeli hopes that a comprehensive peace deal with Arabs can be reached before a peace deal with the Palestinians. The Arab leaders affirmed that normalisation of ties with Arab states can only take place when Israel cedes lands it occupied in 1967 and starts serious efforts towards reaching a two-state solution.
The timing of the message was critical, as United States President Donald Trump, widely viewed as exceptionally pro-Israeli, has said he has a “historic” deal in the works. Officials privy to the details of the potential deal have hinted that Trump wants Arab states to normalise ties as a precursor to a Palestinian state.
The deal will become more evident this month, when the US president has lined up critical meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordanian King Abdullah and Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi — all of whom are key decision-makers involved in a comprehensive peace deal with Israel. Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries that have signed a peace accord with Israel.
The second regional player that was put in check at the Arab Summit was Iran. Iran’s regional meddling featured prominently in the final communique, of which all Arab leaders were signatories.
Five of the communique points were directed at Tehran: The rejection of interference in Arab affairs, the rejection of Iran’s fomenting of sectarianism throughout the region, the rejection of Iran’s continued occupation of three UAE islands and the backing of a Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting to restore Yemen’s legitimate government.
In Yemen, the coalition is fighting Iran-backed Al Houthi militias, who took over the government in a 2014 coup. Saudi Arabia decided to take action once and for all against Iran’s adventurism in the region, and formed a coalition of Arab states currently fighting in Yemen and backing forces there. Yemen’s embattled president launched a scathing verbal attack on Iran at the summit, and accused it of pursuing expansionist policies to destroy the Arab identity. Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi said Iran is “the true sponsor of terrorism”.
To observers, the agreement of Arab states, which have been plighted by internal division, was seen as a rare victory and sign of hope for future cooperation and unity.
