Normalizing ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia would be key to ending the war with Hamas and would be a game-changer for the entire Middle East, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Thursday at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
“It’s still delicate, it’s fragile, and it will take a long time, but I think that it is actually an opportunity to move forward in the world and the region towards a better future,” Herzog said.
It comes days after Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told a panel in Davos that the kingdom agreed: “Regional peace includes peace for Israel. “He said Saudi Arabia would “definitely” include Israel as a component of a broader political settlement.
“But that can only be achieved through peace for the Palestinians, through a Palestinian state,” he said.
U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also reiterated in a speech in Davos that a path to statehood for the Palestinians could simply help improve Israel’s security and its relations with other countries in the region.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government oppose the concept of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Herzog, whose ceremonial role is meant to serve as a national unifier, said public support for it is low because traumatized Israelis are focused on their own safety following Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 rampage. He displayed a photo of Kfar Bibas, the youngest Israeli held hostage in Gaza whose first birthday is Thursday.
“When nations come forward and say ‘two-state solution,’ they have to first deal with a preliminary question, which is a core question for human beings: Are we offered real safety?” Herzog said. “Israelis lost trust in the peace process because they could see that terror is glorified by our neighbors.”
Herzog also pointed out the global implications of Hamas’ attack on Israel, which he said is just one representative of the “evil empire emanating from Tehran. “
Amid the standoff in Gaza, Iran carried out military action opposed to what it called an Israeli intelligence operation in Iraq and introduced attacks in Pakistan and Syria. In Yemen, Iranian-backed rebels known as the Houthis have also disrupted shipping. through attacks on ships in the Red Sea, prompting retaliatory measures in the United States and Britain.
“The Houthi factor is a number one priority, because it increases the burden of life of each and every kin in the universe, a small tribe of 50,000 people, accumulated with the weapons of an empire,” Herzog said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian insisted in Davos on Wednesday that Iranian measures in Iraq, unlike an alleged militant base in Pakistan, were part of his country’s right to self-defense and accused Israel of “genocide” in its crusade against Hamas. that has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani also condemned the war in Gaza in an interview in Davos on Thursday, stating that “the foreign network has failed. “
But Sudani has tried to balance his position between the U. S. and the U. S. and Iran, Iraq has “interests” and “strategic partnerships” with both. He also reiterated his calls for the withdrawal of U. S. -led coalition forces. Iraq, whose presence is no longer justified because the Islamic State organization “is no longer a risk to the Iraqi people. “
Iraqi and Israeli leaders led Thursday’s whirlwind of activity in Davos, which brought together global leaders, business giants and other elites.
Norway Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told The Associated Press that a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians “might seem far away right now, but it could also be closer than we think.”
“A lot of other people who used to pretend to talk about this are now more concerned than in the long run that in the absence of such a development, we will see a continued escalation of violence,” he said.
The four-day confab at Davos — which has been criticized as a talkfest about weighty ideas but few solutions — has taken up a vast array of topics, such as climate change and artificial intelligence, a technology that may offer both economic promise and peril.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, author of ChatGPT, made his Davos debut after the leadership upheaval that occurred last year. During a panel on generation and humanity, he faced mild questions about the collapse of the forums, as well as a lawsuit filed through the New York Court. Times to prevent OpenAI from using your stories to exercise AI chatbots.
At a breakfast on the sidelines of Thursday’s assembly on Ukraine’s fight against Russia, Polish President Andrzej Duda called for Russian assets frozen in Western banks to be used for UkraineArray.
He said $60 billion earmarked for Ukraine’s reconstruction through the United States and 50 billion euros ($54 billion) through the European Union were “crucial. “
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron suggested the EU and the United States press ahead with stalled aid programs and remind allies that their economies together are 25 times larger than Russia’s.
“All we want to do is show our economic strength, make it profitable, and we will help Ukraine achieve that,” said Cameron, who met Iran’s foreign minister in Davos.
Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, came to denounce the hate and added Islamophobia, stating that there has been “a crisis of anti-Semitism” since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Speaking to a women’s business organization, Emhoff, who said “I love being Jewish,” noted that her views on anti-Semitism increased after passing a road sign that read “Kanye is right,” alluding to the former rapper’s anti-Semitic stance. Comments. Like Kanye West. You’ve since apologized.
“And it just pissed me off — it just struck a chord. And I knew I had to do more,” Emhoff said Thursday.
This followed what he called the first national strategy to fight anti-Semitism in the United States.
A day earlier, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with several former hostages and relatives of those still held by Hamas, as did some 150 business leaders — including CEOs Albert Bourla of Pfizer, Andy Jassy of Amazon and Michael Dell of Dell computers.
“Nili Margalit and Moran Stela Yanai, who were released from Hamas captivity, spoke to the participants about the hostages they left behind and about the urgent desire to reach an agreement to bring them home before it is too late,” according to an organization formed through the hostages. . families.
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AP writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad and Masha Macpherson and David Keyton in Davos contributed.
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