Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash called on Wednsday for a strategic shift in Israel-Arab ties, saying that Arab world's decades-old decision to boycott the state of Israel had been a mistake. "Many, many years ago, when there was an Arab decision not to have contact with Israel, that was a very, very wrong decision, looking back," Minister Gargash told the UAE-based newspaper The National in an interview. "Because clearly, you have to really dissect and divide between having a political issue and keeping your lines of communication open." The Arab boycott has complicated efforts to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he argued, speaking to the paper onstage at the Ideas Abu Dhabi forum, which is taking place this week. Gargash, who has held his current position since 2016, predicted increased contact between Arab countries and Israel, including "small bilateral deals and visits by politicians and sports players," according to the paper. He also called for a strategic shift in Israel-Arab ties, saying it was required for progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. In the absence of a peace agreement, he said, a two-state solution will become impractical in a decade or two. In this case, a unitary state, where Jews and Arabs will have equal rights, would be left as the only realistic possibility. "The strategic shift needs, actually, for us to progress on the peace front," he said. "What we are facing, if we continue on the current trajectory, I think the conversation in 15 years' time will really be about equal rights in one state. "I know that this conversation is there right now but it's on the margins. But this conversation will shift because a two-state solution will no longer be feasible because a sort of reduced rump state will no longer be practical," he said. "From the perspective of the UAE, we do need to resolve it, because this issue has this tendency of jumping out of the background when it's quiet to suddenly becoming headline news." ****************************** Israel's relations with some Gulf states have recently seen a drastic improvement, with Israeli officials openly visiting. In October, Prime Minister Netanyahu was welcomed to Oman by the country's longtime ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said. That same month Sport Minister Miri Regev traveled to Abu Dhabi for the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam judo tournament, and the Israeli national anthem was played for the first time in the Arabian peninsula after Sagi Muki won gold in the under-81 kilogram category at the . https://ift.tt/2U2TQEf
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