The Palestinian Authority is planning to resend its ambassadors back to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in a second major step after restoring all relations with Israel since Joe Biden's win in the US presidential elections.
On August 13 and Sep. 11, the PA recalled its ambassadors from the UAE and Bahrain, respectively, in protest at the Gulf countries’ US-brokered deals establishing ties with Israel.
It described these ties as “betrayal to Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Palestinian cause and a declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”
The decision to resend the ambassadors hasn’t come into effect yet, a Palestinian informed source told Asharq Al-Awsat, noting that it is part of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s tendency to alter policies and prepare the atmosphere for the new US administration to start a new political path.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki received on Thursday Ambassador to the UAE Essam Masalha in the ministry’s headquarters.
They discussed the embassy’s affairs in Abu Dhabi and the consulate general in Dubai, as well as the conditions of the community and the consular facilities provided to it during the pandemic, a statement read.
They also discussed the general political situation and the leadership’s efforts to achieve reconciliation and consensus on the elections, as well as Israel’s recent approval of the reference to the agreements signed with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
The statement affirmed that another meeting will be held next week between the two officials to complete the talks.
The PA seems to be preparing to officially announce the return of its ambassadors to avoid immediate popular criticism.
This development came shortly after the PA announced it will renew its security and civil coordination with Israel, which was severed six months ago over Israel’s plans to apply sovereignty over parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, which have been put on hold since the signing of the normalization pacts.
The Palestinians have had a difficult relationship with US President Donald Trump, who cut aid to the West Bank and Gaza, expelled the Palestinian envoy in Washington, and presented a peace plan that the Palestinians believed granted too many concessions to Israel.
The PA has boycotted Trump’s administration since 2017 when he announced that he would move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Biden, for his part, has opposed parts of Trump’s peace plan and pledged to undo some of the Trump-era policies most rejected by the Palestinians.
