Chad mulls embassy in Jerusalem, Israel PM claims

Author: Published: September 9, 2020
Chad mulls embassy in Jerusalem, Israel PM claims

A delegation from Chad discussed the possible opening of an embassy in Jerusalem during a meeting on Tuesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli leader said.

The premier, whose country is to sign a US-brokered deal normalising relations with the UAE, had announced a renewal of ties with Chad after a 47-year hiatus during a 2019 visit to the central African country.

Chad, one of the world’s poorest countries, is not an Arab League member state but belongs to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

Netanyahu has sought to normalise the Jewish state’s ties with Arab and Muslim nations as well as pushing for greater international recognition of the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

US President Donald Trump recognised the disputed city as Israel’s “undivided capital” in December 2017, breaking with decades of international consensus that its status should be settled in a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

On Tuesday, the Chadian delegation led by Abdelkerim Idriss Deby, a son of President Idriss Deby Itno, met Israeli officials including Netanyahu.

“We discussed the appointment of ambassadors and the opening of diplomatic missions, including the possibility of opening an embassy in Jerusalem,” Netanyahu tweeted.

The meetings came less than a month after the UAE pledged to become the first Gulf nation and only the third Arab state, after Egypt and Jordan, to normalise its ties with Israel.

They also came just days after Serbia said it would transfer its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, becoming the first European country to follow the US in making the move.

Palestinian officials slammed Serbia’s decision, warning that the so-called peace plan does not serve peace in the Middle East.

Read more: Kosovo to recognise Israel, Serbia to relocate embassy to Jerusalem

“Palestine has become a victim of the electoral ambitions of President Trump, whose team would take any action, no matter how destructive for peace… to achieve his re-election,” Saeb Erekat, the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said in a tweet.

Palestine’s ambassador to Belgrade has also condemned the decision, warning that it would strain relations between Serbia and Palestinians.

Meanwhile, a US official on Tuesday revealed Israel and the United Arab Emirates will sign the US-brokered agreement normalising their relations at the White House on September 15.

The establishment of diplomatic relations between the Jewish state and US allies in the Middle East, including the oil-rich Gulf monarchies, is central to US President Donald Trump’s regional strategy to contain Iran, also an arch-foe of Israel.

The landmark deal between Israel and the UAE was reached last month – a bombshell announced by Trump himself.

Senior delegations from both countries will be present, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “likely” to lead the contingent from the Jewish state, the official said.

Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed will lead their delegation, the official added.

https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/9/8/chad-mulls-embassy-in-jerusalem-israel-pm-claims

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Envoy from Chad to meet with Netanyahu today

Author: Published: September 8, 2020
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF

SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 08:48
An envoy from Chad led by the son of the country’s president landed in Israel on Monday and will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, according to Maariv, The Jerusalem Post‘s sister newspaper.

The envoy was invited by Israel’s National Security Council.

Qatar: Payouts for Hamas no longer guaranteed – report

Author: Published: September 7, 2020

“Things have changed and we can’t keep on doing things the old way,” said the Emir Of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.  Middle East intelligence sources believe that the emir may be shifting ground ready for Donald Trump to win a second term as US president, by starting to cool his ties with radical and anti-US elements. Those ties have put him on the wrong side of Trump’s diplomatic drive in the region and got him in hot water with the Saudi-led Gulf Arab governments, especially the United Arab Emirates, which has just concluded a US-brokered normalization pact with Israel. All three parties to the deal have come off with gains..

The Palestinian Hamas and its parent, the Muslim Brotherhood, appear to be the first to feel the rough edge of the Qatari ruler’s re-evaluation. After a visit by US presidential adviser Jared Kushner to Doha last week, Sheikh Tamim is reported by those sources to have instructed his aides to inform the Hamas that the continued flow of Qatari cash to the Gaza Strip’s impoverished population was no longer guaranteed. The latest transfer of $30 million was “not a policy,” he warned, but “a one-off.” The next instalments may come on a one-by-one basis, depending on how Gaza’s Hamas regime behaves.

That delivery silenced weeks of incendiary balloon and rocket attacks launched from the Gaza strip against southern Israel – though not for long judging by past precedent. However, this time, the Palestinian terrorist group was given a stern caution by its Doha paymaster: “The Americans and Israelis are not kidding around this time around,” he said, adding for good measure:  “It does not seem as if Trump is going to lose the presidential elections.”

Cooling his longstanding ties with Iran and Hizballah would be much riskier than cutting cash payments to Hamas. They are capable of hitting back in ways that could be gravely damaging to their target. On the other hand, loosening ties with radical and terrorist entities would open a pathway for Qatar to bury the hatchet with Saudi Arabia and the UAE and win points in Washington.

Sheikh Tamim is keeping close track of US presidential poll ratings before making a final jump. He listened when Democratic friends assured him that Joe Biden’s win was in the bag and he should hold his ground until President Trump was out. But now, after observing the narrowing gap between the two contenders, he is becoming convinced that Trump may actually pull off a second term.

The ruler’s advisers have reportedly instructed senior editors of the Qatari Al Jazeera television network to temper their championship of Hamas and other radical organizations vis-a-vis Israel, the US and the United Arab Emirates and be less provocative.

https://www.debka.com/qatar-payouts-for-hamas-no-longer-guaranteed-report/

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