ISTANBUL
Some Arab states appear to be taking tentative steps toward normalizing relations with Israel.
These steps have reportedly included visits to Tel Aviv by Iraqi officials and Egypt's recent admission that it was coordinating security efforts with Israel in the volatile Sinai Peninsula.
Israeli officials in recent months have also reportedly visited a number of Arab countries, including one such visit to Oman in October by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On several occasions, Israeli officials have spoken of “positive change” vis-à-vis diplomatic normalization with the Arab world -- despite a continued lack of progress in the Israel-Palestine peace process.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Mokhtar Ghobashi, vice president of the Cairo-based Arab Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said that “the general trend indicates that the normalization curve is rising”.
He added: "The most disturbing thing is that the Gulf States have rushed toward Israel due to the absence of any Arab vision or strategy."
Jawad al-Hamad, head of Jordan’s Middle East Studies Center, said that, "Although Arab normalization with Israel would be a mistake, it will likely develop rapidly in 2019.”
Unlike Amman and Cairo, both of which have signed peace treaties with Israel (in 1978 and 1994 respectively), other Arab capitals officially deny plans to normalize ties with the self-proclaimed Jewish state.
The following is a brief collection of reports indicating a trend towards Arab normalization -- and coordination -- with Israel:
In an interview by U.S. television broadcaster CBS that aired Monday, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said: "Our air forces must sometimes enter Israeli airspace, so there is good coordination ... and there is cooperation."
And on Sunday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry claimed that three Iraqi delegations had visited Tel Aviv in 2018 -- despite the lack of formal relations between the two countries.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir recently said that Khartoum had been pressured to “normalize relations with Israel” given the volatile situation in his country. He did not elaborate further.
Last November, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that Netanyahu was planning a visit to the Sudanese capital -- a report that drew denials from Sudanese officials.
Amman, meanwhile, recently reiterated its commitment to the 1994 Wadi Araba peace treaty with Israel.
The assertion came after a Jordanian government spokesperson stepped on an Israeli flag during a visit to a trade union, drawing official protests from Israel.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said that a process of gradual normalization was taking place with the Arab world, while admitting to the concurrent lack of progress in peace talks with the Palestinians
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, for his part, recently said: "Many Arab countries choose normalization with Israel before the Palestinian issue is resolved."
Last year, Israeli diplomat Bruce Kashdan met secretly with Sudanese officials, including a top-level intelligence official, according to Israel’s Channel 10.
Khartoum, however, has strongly denied that the meeting occurred.
Nabil Shaath, an advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, recently asked for “clarification” regarding the position of Arab and Islamic states on the issue of normalization with Israel.
In April of last year, Israeli Economy Minister Eli Cohen received an official invitation to visit Bahrain to take part in a conference in Manama.
Also last year, Hani Marzouk, an employee of Netanyahu’s office, told the Israeli Broadcast Authority that the PM was scheduled to visit Bahrain. Netanyahu later denied the assertion.
Israeli Transport Minister Yisrael Katz recently called on the Gulf States -- and other Arab countries -- to establish a "Peace Railway" linking the Gulf States with Israel via Jordan.
Last October, Israeli Communications Minister Ayoob Kara addressed an international conference in Dubai devoted to information security.
In the same month, Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev visited the United Arab Emirates at the head of a delegation to take part in a judo championship.
An Israeli sports team, meanwhile, participated in a world gymnastics championship in Qatar that wrapped up on Nov. 3 of last year.
Last September, Egypt’s President al-Sisi met with Netanyahu in New York. It was the second such meeting since al-Sisi came to power in mid-2014.
In July of last year, Israeli daily Haaretz reported that Tel Aviv had sent representatives to the 42nd session of the UN World Heritage Committee in Bahrain.
In May of last year, an Emirati cycling team took part in a race held in Jerusalem.
And after the Israeli army struck several positions in neighboring Syria, Bahraini FM Khalid Al Khalifa said his country supported "Israel's right to defend itself".
In the same month, at a Cairo hotel, Israeli embassy officials celebrated the anniversary of Israel’s establishment -- an event referred to by Palestinians as the “Nakba” (“The Catastrophe”) -- in the presence of Egyptian officials.
And in March of last year, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth revealed that Israeli nationals had taken part in the World Rally Championship in Abu Dhabi.
Speaking at a Munich security conference last February, Netanyahu spoke of the need for “strategic alliances” with Arab countries.
In the same month, Mohamed al-Emadi, head of a Qatari committee responsible for overseeing reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, visited Jerusalem, where he reportedly met with Israeli officials to discuss means of transferring funds to the embattled enclave.
And last March, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abul-Gheit asserted that it would “not be possible” to normalize ties with Israel until the latter withdrew to pre-1967 borders and a Palestinian state was established with East Jerusalem as its capital.
In January of last year, prominent Egyptian academic Saadeddin Ibrahim delivered a lecture on the Arab Spring at Tel Aviv University.
