WASHINGTON, Sept 5: Israel hopes to establish diplomatic ties with at least 10 more Arab and Muslim states once the withdrawal of its troops and Jewish settlers from Gaza and the West Bank is completed, according to diplomatic sources. Israel already enjoys official relations with Egypt, Jordan, Mauritania and Turkey. Tel Aviv also has limited interest or trade missions with Morocco, Tunisia and Qatar. Although Israel will welcome diplomatic ties with any Arab or Muslim state, there are two regions where Israeli diplomats believe they can achieve a major diplomatic breakthrough: the Arab North Africa and the Gulf.
Diplomatic sources say that most of the 10 Arab states with whom Israel hopes to establish diplomatic ties in the near future are located in these two regions.
The Israelis are now waiting to see which of these countries will take the initiative. Diplomatic observers in Washington say it could be either Morocco or Tunisia. Some, however, expect a breakthrough from the Gulf.
Recently, Moroccan Foreign Minister Mohammed Bin Eissa denied reports of an agreement to open a Moroccan liaison office in Tel Aviv. The Israeli media, however, reported on Sept 3 that an Israeli special-interests office had been opened in the United Arab Emirates. The Israeli media also have predicted that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah II may soon visit Israel.
Israel’s closest ally in the Islamic world is Turkey. The two countries established full diplomatic ties in the mid 1990s. In 1996, they also signed two agreements for military cooperation.
Under these agreements, Israel has not only helped in upgrading the aircraft that Turkey purchased from the US, such as F-4 Phantoms, but is also involved in several projects for joint production of sophisticated weapons.
These include joint production of the Popeye II ground-to-air missile and the 400-kilometre range Delilah cruise missile.
Ankara has also shown interest in co-producing the Phalcon airborne warning aircraft, the Arrow anti-missile system and missile and attack boats.
On January 7, 1998, Turkey and Israel held their first joint naval exercise, dubbed “Reliant Mermaid”.
Even the November 2002 election of the Islamist-based Justice and Development Party did not affect Turkey’s relations with Israel.
It was in this backdrop that Turkey agreed to arrange Pakistan’s first direct diplomatic talks with Israel in Istanbul last week.
Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, established diplomatic ties with Israel after signing a peace treaty on in 1979. But ties between the two neighbouring states have never been smooth. Last year both countries took several conciliatory steps, which led to the return earlier this year of an Egyptian ambassador to Tel Aviv after a four-year absence.
Jordan, which like Egypt has a peace agreement with Israel, has been more accommodating. In March, Jordan proposed across-board normalization of Arab relations with the Jewish state at a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Algiers. The meeting rejected the proposal.
The Israelis, however, hope that their withdrawal from Gaza will help defuse Arab opposition to normalization of relations with their state.
The Israeli media have noted that the Israel-Pakistan breakthrough came only two weeks after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s controversial withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. They speculated that many countries that had secret contacts with Israel before the second Intifadah can now resume them.