عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Interviews

Amr Moussa Demands ‘Added Benefits’ in Exchange of Any New Normalization with Israel

Amr Moussa speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt, on Aug. 6, 2013. (AP)
Amr Moussa speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt, on Aug. 6, 2013. (AP)
TT
20
TT

Amr Moussa Demands ‘Added Benefits’ in Exchange of Any New Normalization with Israel

Amr Moussa speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt, on Aug. 6, 2013. (AP)
Amr Moussa speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt, on Aug. 6, 2013. (AP)

Former Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa called Saturday on Arab states that may seek to follow the United Arab Emirates’ example in normalizing relations with Israel to note that the Israeli plan to annex Palestinian territories was resolved in the deal with Abu Dhabi.

“If these states proceed with such normalization or recognition of Israel, they must consider that the exchange favor the Palestinians and achieve added benefits for them,” Moussa said Saturday.

In a telephone call with Asharq Al-Awsat, he reiterated the “importance of taking the legitimate Palestinian interests into account and to establish a negotiation path that leads to a fair peaceful solution to their cause.”

Commenting on the Arab League’s move in the next phase, Moussa said he calls on the organization to prepare an Arab meeting to seriously discuss these developments.

Israel and the UAE reached a historic deal Thursday that will establish diplomatic ties, becoming the third Arab country to recognize Israel after Jordan and Egypt.

The deal was brokered by US President Donald Trump in a telephone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Moussa’s comments came two days after White House advisor Jared Kushner confirmed to Fox News on Friday that other Arab countries are expected to sign agreements with Israel during the upcoming weeks.

Moussa said the world has changed and is witnessing the fall of some “universals and the building of new international relations that do not follow the principles of international law or UN Charter and resolutions.”

Moreover, he stressed the importance that the UAE establish its embassy to Israel in Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem.

In Ramallah, Secretary of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)’s Executive Committee Saeb Erekat condemned Moussa’ statements, which he slammed as a violation of Arab summits and the annihilation of the 2002 Arab peace initiative.

Most Viewed

 
Interviews

Hochstein to Asharq Al-Awsat: Land Border Demarcation between Lebanon, Israel ‘is Within Reach’

AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
TT
20
TT

Hochstein to Asharq Al-Awsat: Land Border Demarcation between Lebanon, Israel ‘is Within Reach’

AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon

The former US special envoy, Amos Hochstein, said the maritime border agreement struck between Lebanon and Israel in 2022 and the ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hezbollah at the end of last year show that a land border demarcation “is within reach.”

“We can get to a deal but there has to be political willingness,” he said.

“The agreement of the maritime boundary was unique because we’d been trying to work on it for over 10 years,” Hochstein told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“I understood that a simple diplomatic push for a line was not going to work. It had to be a more complicated and comprehensive agreement. And there was a real threat that people didn’t realize that if we didn’t reach an agreement we would have ended up in a conflict - in a hot conflict - or war over resources.”

He said there is a possibility to reach a Lebanese-Israeli land border agreement because there’s a “provision that mandated the beginning of talks on the land boundary.”

“I believe with concerted effort they can be done quickly,” he said, adding: “It is within reach.”

Hochstein described communication with Hezbollah as “complicated,” saying “I never had only one interlocutor with Hezbollah .... and the first step is to do shuttle diplomacy between Lebanon, Lebanon and Lebanon, and then you had to go to Israel and do shuttle diplomacy between the different factions” there.

“The reality of today and the reality of 2022 are different. Hezbollah had a lock on the political system in Lebanon in the way it doesn’t today.”

North of Litani

The 2024 ceasefire agreement requires Israel to withdraw from Lebanon and for the Lebanese army to take full operational control of the south Litani region, all the way up to the border. It requires Hezbollah to demilitarize and move further north of the Litani region, he said.

“I don’t want to get into the details of other violations,” he said, but stated that the ceasefire works if both conditions are met.

Lebanon’s opportunity

“Lebanon can rewrite its future ... but it has to be a fundamental change,” he said.

“There is so much potential in Lebanon and if you can bring back opportunity and jobs - and through economic and legal reforms in the country - I think that the future is very bright,” Hochstein told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Hezbollah is not trying to control the politics and remember that Hezbollah is just an arm of Iran” which “should not be imposing its political will in Lebanon, Israel should not be imposing its military will in Lebanon, Syria should not. No one should. This a moment for Lebanon to make decisions for itself,” he added.