Israel Working on Non-Aggression Pacts With Gulf States

(Bloomberg) -- Israel is working on an “historic” non-aggression pact with Arab Gulf states, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday.

Such an agreement would make it possible to cooperate on civilian matters, Katz said on Twitter, confirming an earlier report by Israeli media. He said he’d presented a plan to Arab foreign ministers and to U.S. envoy Jason Greenblatt at his recent visit to the United Nations.

“I will continue to work to strengthen Israel’s standing in the region and around the world,” Katz said.

While Israel has formal peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, most Arab countries have resisted establishing ties. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to leverage a shared fear of Iran to gradually improve relations with the Gulf, and U.S. President Donald Trump has promoted this rapprochement.

Netanyahu made a surprise visit to Oman a year ago to meet with the country’s foreign minister, and several Israeli ministers have since attended conferences in the region. Israel said in April that it will take part in next year’s World Expo in Dubai.

Katz said in a speech to the UN in late September that Israel is seeking to normalize ties with the Arab Gulf states “as we did with Egypt and Jordan.” He named technology, agriculture and water as areas in which these countries could benefit from relations with Israel.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alisa Odenheimer in Jerusalem at aodenheimer@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net, Ian Fisher, Ros Krasny

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