JERUSALEM: Israel’s prime minister and Washington’s top diplomat voiced hope on Monday the Jewish state would soon build ties with more Arab countries, following its landmark move to normalise relations with the United Arab Emirates.

Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was starting a Mideast tour in Jerusalem, both praised the US-brokered deal as a major step towards stability to the turbulent region.

“I’m very hopeful that we will see other Arab nations join in this,” said Pompeo, who was also set to visit Sudan, Bahrain and the UAE on his five-day trip.

Netanyahu hailed the Israel-UAE agreement as “a boon to peace and regional stability” which “heralds a new era where we could have other nations join”.

“I hope we’ll have good news in the future, maybe in the near future,” he said.

Washington and its close ally Israel hope that more such ties with other regional countries traditionally hostile to the Jewish state will help forge a stronger regional alliance against their common foe, Iran.

Pompeo again stressed US President Donald Trump’s goal that “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon” and urged world powers to maintain an arms embargo on the Islamic republic.

Israel has existing peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan which, unlike the UAE, share borders with the Jewish state and have fought wars with it.

Under the US-brokered agreement with the Emirates announced on August 13, Israel pledged to suspend its previous plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, without saying for how long.

The Palestinians slammed the UAE’s move as a “stab in the back” while their own conflict with the Jewish state remains unresolved.

The Islamist group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, charged on Monday that the Israel-UAE deal helps “maintain crimes and violations” against the Palestinians.

It urged regional and world leaders to “break their silence to bring an end” to the Gaza blockade.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is expected to meet Pompeo in Jerusalem Monday evening and Netanyahu the following day, as well as Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Defence Minister Benny Gantz.

A Palestinian official said that Raab would also meet on Tuesday in Ramallah with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh.

An Israeli foreign ministry official said Raab would be asked to coax the Palestinians back to peace talks with the Jewish state, which stalled in 2014.

“We will ask the British FM to be a bridge between us and the Palestinians, in order to bring the Palestinians back to the negotiating table,” the ministry’s deputy chief for European Affairs Anna Azari told reporters.

The Israel-Emirati pact has sparked speculation on which country in the region might be next, with frequent mention of Bahrain and Sudan.

Israel is technically at war with Sudan, which for years had supported hardline Islamist forces but which is turning its back on the era of strongman Omar al-Bashir who was ousted last year.

The State Department said Pompeo would meet Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok during his tour, to “express support for deepening the Sudan-Israel relationship”.

Pompeo will also meet Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa before talks with UAE foreign minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, it said.

Saudi Arabia, in keeping with decades of policy by most Arab states, says it will not follow the UAE’s example until Israel has signed a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu has meanwhile denied reports that the UAE deal hinges on the sale of US F-35 stealth fighter-jets to the Emirates, saying he opposes a move that could reduce Israel’s strategic edge in the region.

“This deal did not include Israel’s acceptance of any arms deal,” he said.

Pompeo said the US was determined to help the Emirates defend itself against Iran “in a way that preserves our commitments to Israel”.

“The United States has a legal requirement with respect to (Israel’s) qualitative military edge. We will continue to honour that,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2020