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Bahrain FM to Asharq Al-Awsat: Relations with Israel Do Not Undermine Commitment to Peace Initiative

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Dr. Abdul Latif al-Zayani. (Getty Images)
Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Dr. Abdul Latif al-Zayani. (Getty Images)
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Bahrain FM to Asharq Al-Awsat: Relations with Israel Do Not Undermine Commitment to Peace Initiative

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Dr. Abdul Latif al-Zayani. (Getty Images)
Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Dr. Abdul Latif al-Zayani. (Getty Images)

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Dr. Abdul Latif al-Zayani underlined on Saturday the Kingdom’s “firm and constant” stance towards the rights of the fraternal Palestinian people.

These rights top the Kingdom’s priorities, he told Asharq Al-Awsat in an exclusive interview as Bahrain announced Friday it had reached a US-brokered agreement to normalize relations with Israel.

He stressed that the deal is in line with the vision of King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa to spread peace in the world.

The agreement, Zayani went on to say, does not undermine the 2002 Arab peace initiative.

How do you assess the future Bahraini-Israeli relations in wake of the peace agreement?
The step is in line with King Hamad’s vision to spread the culture of peace in the world. It is also in line with his directives to intensify efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict according to the peace initiative. Bahrain always stresses its firm and constant position towards the rights of the fraternal Palestinian people, which are at the top of its priorities. The Palestinian people must obtain their complete legitimate rights.

Some believe, however, that normalizing ties with Israel will pave the way for other Arab concessions.
On the contrary, Bahrain stresses that it will not abandon Arab principles. Palestinian rights are the most important of these principles. Bahrain has long advocated the policy of peace and coexistence. Peace is the best strategic choice to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Precedents throughout history demonstrate that all of the Kingdom’s initiatives and decisions favor the interests of the Palestinian people. No one can challenge the Kingdom in this regard.

What happens now to the Arab peace initiative after Bahrain will normalize ties with Israel?
Establishing diplomatic relations with Israel does not contradict with Bahrain’s commitment to the Arab peace initiative and international resolutions. Bahrain is a sovereign nation and it takes its decisions based on its national and Arab principles and its higher security interests. Among those principles are the Palestinian rights that cannot be abandoned.

Bahrain had from the start announced its support to the agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel. Was this paving the way for the peace announcement between Bahrain and Israel?
Bahrain is adding its efforts to those of the UAE in defending the causes and interests of the ummah and in supporting the Palestinians to obtain their rights. We highly appreciate the leading Emirati role in adopting diplomatic ties as a form of strategic solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. For us, we underscore Bahrain’s support for all Arab partners in reaching a peaceful solution that protects the interests of all Palestinians. We believe that the declaration of peace between Bahrain and Israel creates better opportunities for the Palestinian people in establishing an independent, stable and prosperous state.

What is the Palestinian Authority’s position on the declaration of peace between Bahrain and Israel?
I want to express my great appreciation to the Palestinian leadership, its firm stances and constant efforts in safeguarding the Palestinian people’s rights and working on achieving their legitimate interests. As for Bahrain, it underlines its commitment to its efforts to empower the Palestinian people so that they can achieve their aspirations like all other peoples in the world.

Do you expect more peace agreements to be declared soon between countries in the region and Israel?
As I said before, every country has its own sovereignty and takes its decisions based on its principles and higher interests. For Bahrain, we will continue to spread the culture of peace and peaceful coexistence and shun violence. We believe this is a historic step as part of its efforts to achieve global peace. I would like to point out that countries that have established relations with Israel have not decreased their support for Palestinian rights. Strategic priorities are determined by each country to achieve their interests.

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Interviews

Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
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Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich has told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US does not plan to withdraw its forces from Syria.

The US is committed to “the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with,” he said.

Here is the full text of the interview.

Question: Mr. Goldrich, thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us today. I know you are leaving your post soon. How do you assess the accomplishments and challenges remaining?

Answer: Thank you very much for the chance to talk with you today. I've been in this position for three years, and so at the end of three years, I can see that there's a lot that we accomplished and a lot that we have left to do. But at the beginning of a time I was here, we had just completed a review of our Syria policy, and we saw that we needed to focus on reducing suffering for the people in Syria. We needed to reduce violence. We needed to hold the regime accountable for things that are done and most importantly, from the US perspective, we needed to keep ISIS from reemerging as a threat to our country and to other countries. At the same time, we also realized that there wouldn't be a solution to the crisis until there was a political process under resolution 2254, so in each of these areas, we've seen both progress and challenges, but of course, on ISIS, we have prevented the reemergence of the threat from northeast Syria, and we've helped deal with people that needed to be repatriated out of the prisons, and we dealt with displaced people in al-Hol to reduce the numbers there. We helped provide for stabilization in those parts of Syria.

Question: I want to talk a little bit about the ISIS situation now that the US troops are still there, do you envision a timeline where they will be withdrawn? Because there were some reports in the press that there is a plan from the Biden administration to withdraw.

Answer: Yeah. So right now, our focus is on the mission that we have there to keep ISIS from reemerging. So I know there have been reports, but I want to make clear that we remain committed to the role that we play in that part of Syria, to the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with, and to the need to prevent that threat from reemerging.

Question: So you can assure people who are saying that you might withdraw, that you are remaining for the time being?

Answer: Yes, and that we remain committed to this mission which needs to continue to be pursued.

Question: You also mentioned the importance of humanitarian aid. The US has been leading on this. Are you satisfied with where you are today on the humanitarian front in Syria?

Answer: We remain committed to the role that we play to provide for humanitarian assistance in Syria. Of the money that was pledged in Brussels, we pledged $593 million just this past spring, and we overall, since the beginning of the conflict, have provided $18 billion both to help the Syrians who are inside of Syria and to help the refugees who are in surrounding countries. And so we remain committed to providing that assistance, and we remain keenly aware that 90% of Syrians are living in poverty right now, and that there's been suffering there. We're doing everything we can to reduce the suffering, but I think where we would really like to be is where there's a larger solution to the whole crisis, so Syrian people someday will be able to provide again for themselves and not need this assistance.

Question: And that's a perfect key to my next question. Solution in Syria. you are aware that the countries in the region are opening up to Assad again, and you also have the EU signaling overture to the Syrian regime and Assad. How do you deal with that?

Answer: For the United States, our policy continues to be that we will not normalize with the regime in Syria until there's been authentic and enduring progress on the goals of resolution 2254, until the human rights of the Syrian people are respected and until they have the civil and human rights that they deserve. We know other countries have engaged with the regime. When those engagements happen, we don't support them, but we remind the countries that are engaged that they should be using their engagements to push forward on the shared international goals under 2254, and that whatever it is that they're doing should be for the sake of improving the situation of the Syrian people.

Question: Let's say that all of the countries decided to talk to Assad, aren’t you worried that the US will be alienated in the process?

Answer: The US will remain true to our own principles and our own policies and our own laws, and the path for the regime in Syria to change its relationship with us is very clear, if they change the behaviors that led to the laws that we have and to the policies that we have, if those behaviors change and the circumstances inside of Syria change, then it's possible to have a different kind of relationship, but that's where it has to start.

Question: My last question to you before you leave, if you have to pick one thing that you need to do in Syria today, what is it that you would like to see happening today?

Answer: So there are a number of things, I think that will always be left and that there are things that we will try to do, to try to make them happen. We want to hold people accountable in Syria for things that have happened. So even today, we observed something called the International Day for victims of enforced disappearances, there are people that are missing, and we're trying to draw attention to the need to account for the missing people. So our step today was to sanction a number of officials who were responsible for enforced disappearances, but we also created something called the independent institution for missing persons, and that helps the families, in the non-political way, get information on what's happened. So I'd like to see some peace for the families of the missing people. I'd like to see the beginning of a political process, there hasn't been a meeting of the constitutional committee in two years, and I think that's because the regime has not been cooperating in political process steps. So we need to change that situation. And I would, of course, like it's important to see the continuation of the things that we were talking about, so keeping ISIS from reemerging and maintaining assistance as necessary in the humanitarian sphere. So all these things, some of them are ongoing, and some of them remain to be achieved. But the Syrian people deserve all aspects of our policy to be fulfilled and for them to be able to return to a normal life.