Israel’s relations with Arab world jeopardized by new government’s actions: Experts

Israel’s relations with Arab world jeopardized by new government’s actions: Experts
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting on March 12, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 31 March 2023

Israel’s relations with Arab world jeopardized by new government’s actions: Experts

Israel’s relations with Arab world jeopardized by new government’s actions: Experts
  • Participants in a discussion hosted by the Middle East Institute said the first three months of the far-right government led by Benjamin Netanyahu have been ‘chaotic’ and its policies are ‘racist’
  • The ruling coalition has overseen the violent suppression of Palestinian protests, with nearly 100 Palestinians killed as Israeli and settler raids have been stepped up in the West Bank

CHICAGO: Israeli journalists, former diplomats and government ministers agreed on Thursday that escalating violence directed toward Palestinians under the rule of the new coalition government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is undermining Israel’s relations with neighboring Arab countries, in particular those that have signed the Abraham Accords or might have considered doing so.

During a discussion hosted by the Middle East Institute, the panelists said the first three months of the far-right government have been “chaotic” and its policies are “racist” and “disconnected from reality.”

Since it came to power in December, the ruling coalition has overseen the violent suppression of Palestinian protests. Nearly 100 Palestinians have been killed as Israeli and settler raids targeting activists have been stepped up throughout the occupied West Bank.

One of the most violent incidents was an assault on the Palestinian village of Huwara on Feb. 27, which an Israeli panelist described as a “pogrom,” a word used to describe an organized massacre of a particular ethnic group. Armed settlers, who claimed to be avenging an attack on Israelis by Palestinians the day before, led a violent, late-night rampage through the village in the northern West Bank, killing one Palestinian and injuring more than 100. The Israeli military, which has responded rapidly to increased tensions related to Palestinian assaults, did nothing to intervene.

“The fact is that this government, in its first three months, is totally dysfunctional and chaotic, and almost any step it takes does not come out of initiative but out of reaction to events,” said Barak Ravid, a veteran Middle East and diplomatic correspondent for Israeli media outlets.

“This is also a government that … is the most far-right government in Israel’s history, with racist and Jewish-supremacist elements in it, in key positions that have a lot of influence over foreign relations and national security, like Itamir Ben Gvir, the minister of national security, or Mr. (Bezalel) Smotrich, the minister of finance.”

Ravid continued: “When Netanyahu came in, he said several things. Firstly, he said he is going have his hands on the wheel when it comes to national security and foreign policy. I think in the three months since this government was formed it is obvious to everybody that this is not the case. He is not running anything, everything is chaotic.

“And secondly, he put forward a pretty ambitious foreign policy agenda, first stressing he will focus on Iran and on countering its nuclear program. And second, he said he will try to broaden the Abraham Accords and get a peace treaty with Saudi Arabia. In the last three months, he has done nothing, not on the first foreign policy goal and not on the second foreign policy goal.”

Ravid said the unrelated issue of the government’s proposed reforms of Israel’s judicial system, which have sparked widespread protests across Israel and international concern, has contributed the problems because it has “hijacked the government’s agenda.”

The violence in the West Bank, the panelists agreed, has caused a spike in killings of Palestinians and Israelis, and put the brakes on any more potential normalization agreements, similar to the Abraham Accords deals with Morocco, Bahrain and the UAE, in particular dashing hopes that there might be one with Saudi Arabia.

Netanyahu’s coalition “knows very well that they are harming relations with the Arab World but they don’t care,” said Nachman Shai, Israel’s former minister of diaspora affairs.

“Don’t tell me they don’t know, when they let Minister Ben Gvir on the Temple Mount (Al-Aqsa Mosque) or other statements were made by coalition members and government ministers. They know very well that they are harming relations with the Arab world but they don’t care.”

Shai described the “Huwara pogrom” as a “terrible event, a tragedy that disrupted our relationship with the United States, with the Jewish community, and with the world. And especially with our relations with the Arab World.”

He said the new government’s policies have drawn anger from the administration of US President Joe Biden, who has been a strong advocate for Israeli security and democracy.

Elie Podeh, a professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said the biggest effect of the coalition’s actions has been to undermine any possibility of normalized relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which was “Netanyahu’s main target” for his foreign policy.

“Any tension, and certainly an intifada and anything significant that happens between Israel and the Palestinians, especially if Jerusalem is involved, is going to hamper and is going to hurt any developments between the Israelis and the Saudis,” Podeh said. “So, it is not on the horizon, at least the immediate horizon.”

Maya Sion Tzidkiyahu, director of Mitvim, the Israel-Europe Relations Program at the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, said the turmoil during the first 100 days of Netanyahu’s government has not only soured support for Israel among leaders of EU countries, but also the normalized relations with the UAE. She said the Netanyahu government has not recognized the damage it is causing to its efforts to improve relations with the Arab World.

The moderator of the discussion was Nimrod Goren, a senior fellow of Israeli Affairs at the Middle East Institute.


Tunisian coast guard finds drowned child’s body after migrant ships sink

Tunisian coast guard finds drowned child’s body after migrant ships sink
Updated 45 min 6 sec ago

Tunisian coast guard finds drowned child’s body after migrant ships sink

Tunisian coast guard finds drowned child’s body after migrant ships sink
  • The flow of migrants from Tunisia has intensified since President Kais Saied made a fiery speech on Feb. 21 claiming illegal immigration was a demographic threat to Tunisia

SFAX, Tunisia: The Tunisian coast guard recovered the body of a young child thought to have drowned at sea when two vessels carrying migrants sank in the Mediterranean, a journalist working with AFP said.
The child’s body, dressed in a pink jumpsuit and grey woollen cap, was discovered during a patrol off the coast of Sfax, Tunisia’s second city, according to the journalist who was accompanying the coast guard.
The child was likely from Cameroon, as more than 200 Cameroonians had been rescued in the last two days, the coast guard undertaking the operation said.
The child’s mother was believed to have been one of the people missing after the sinking of two boats earlier in the week, they added.
The Cameroonian Embassy in Tunis was nonetheless unable to confirm this information when contacted by AFP.

BACKGROUND

The child’s body, dressed in a pink jumpsuit and grey woollen cap, was discovered during a patrol off the coast of Sfax, Tunisia’s second city, according to a journalist who was accompanying the coast guard.

Local court spokesman Faouzi Masmoudi meanwhile said that two boats carrying migrants from sub-Saharan Africa sank off Sfax’s coast Wednesday.
Six people died and 39 were rescued from the first boat, while 12 people from the second boat were rescued and 41 others are missing, he said.
It was unknown which of the boats the child had been traveling on, Masmoudi added.
Tunisia, whose coastline is less than 150 km from the Italian island of Lampedusa, has long been a favored launching point for migrants attempting the perilous sea journey from North Africa to Europe.
The flow of migrants from Tunisia has intensified since President Kais Saied made a fiery speech on Feb. 21 claiming illegal immigration was a demographic threat to Tunisia.
The country is in the grips of a long-running socio-economic crisis, with spiralling inflation and persistently high unemployment, pushing some of its citizens to seek a better life abroad.
On May 26, authorities announced the arrest of an alleged smuggler in Sfax, wanted in connection with the September deaths of 20 Tunisian migrants who drowned off the coast of Chebba.

 


Sudan fighters take over Khartoum museum raising fears for safety of important artefacts

Sudanese patients suffering from kidney failure, undergo a dialysis  treatment at the Soba Hospital in southern Khartoum. (AFP)
Sudanese patients suffering from kidney failure, undergo a dialysis treatment at the Soba Hospital in southern Khartoum. (AFP)
Updated 57 min 19 sec ago

Sudan fighters take over Khartoum museum raising fears for safety of important artefacts

Sudanese patients suffering from kidney failure, undergo a dialysis  treatment at the Soba Hospital in southern Khartoum. (AFP)
  • Among its thousands of priceless relics are embalmed mummies dating to 2,500 BC
  • Since the overthrow of longtime ruler Omar Bashir in 2019 Sudan’s government was headed by a sovereign council under army chief General Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan with the RSF head Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, as his deputy

KHARTOUM: Sudanese paramilitary fighters have taken over the national museum in Khartoum, its deputy director said on Saturday, urging them to protect precious artefacts from the nation’s heritage that include ancient mummies.
Members of the Rapid Support Forces group that has been fighting the army since mid-April for control of Sudan entered the museum on Friday, said deputy director Ikhlas Abdellatif.
Museum staff do not know the situation inside the museum because they halted work there after the conflict suddenly erupted on April 15, forcing police guarding the facility to quit, Abdellatif said.
The RSF released a video filmed inside the museum grounds showing a soldier denying that they had done any harm to the museum or would do so, and inviting any individuals or organizations to visit the museum to check.
The video also showed RSF fighters covering up exposed mummies with sheets and closing the plain white boxes in which they were contained. It was not clear when or why the mummies had been uncovered.
The museum is in a large building on the banks of the River Nile in central Khartoum, near the central bank in an area where some of the fiercest fighting has taken place.
Among its thousands of priceless relics are embalmed mummies dating to 2,500 BC, making them among the oldest and archaeologically most important in the world.
The museum also contains statues, pottery and ancient murals, with artefacts from the stone age through to the Christian and Islamic eras, said former director Hatim Alnour.
Roxanne Trioux, part of a French archaeological team that was working in Sudan, said they had been monitoring satellite pictures of the museum and had already seen potential signs of damage there before Friday, with signs of burning. “We don’t know the extent of damage inside,” she said.
Fighting has persisted despite repeated truces including one negotiated by Saudi Arabia and the US to which both sides signed up. The latest was due to expire on Saturday evening. On Saturday afternoon, residents reported clashes including air and artillery strikes in southern Khartoum and northern districts of its sister cities Omdurman and Bahri which lie across the Nile, as well as the Sharg el-Nil district, to the east.
After continued clashes, bombardment and occupation of civilian buildings, Washington and Riyadh suspended the talks and the US said this week it was imposing sanctions on the two sides’ business interests.
On Friday, the UN Security Council called on the warring factions to cease hostilities to allow access to humanitarian organizations.
“The army is shelling us and the RSF are spread out in the streets, and the citizen is paying the price for war,” said Sami el-Tayeb, a 47-year-old resident of Omdurman.
The war has already displaced 1.2 million people inside the country and forced another 400,000 to flee into neighboring states, pushing Sudan to the brink of disaster and raising fears of a wider conflict.

 


FSO Safer saga enters endgame with launch of UN-coordinated oil-removal operation

Decaying vessel FSO Safer is moored off the coast of Ras Issa, Yemen, prior to the start of an operation led by the UN
Decaying vessel FSO Safer is moored off the coast of Ras Issa, Yemen, prior to the start of an operation led by the UN
Updated 14 sec ago

FSO Safer saga enters endgame with launch of UN-coordinated oil-removal operation

Decaying vessel FSO Safer is moored off the coast of Ras Issa, Yemen, prior to the start of an operation led by the UN
  • Crude carrier docks near decaying vessel off Yemen’s Red Sea coast to begin a complex recovery mission
  • UN officials say operation’s progress is good news for people, environment and idea of multilateralism

NEW YORK CITY: Unless there are complications, the transfer of crude from the FSO Safer, an oil-storage vessel stricken off Yemen’s Red Sea coast, will be complete within 10 to 14 days, according to David Gressly, the UN resident coordinator for Yemen.

Speaking via VideoLink from aboard the Ndeavor, a crude carrier recently purchased by the UN for its operation, Gressly said an additional $14 million was needed “immediately” and a remaining total of $29 million to complete the operation and eliminate the ecological threat.

The Ndeavor left Djibouti on Monday and docked at Yemen’s Hodeidah port before proceeding to the Safer’s offshore mooring on Tuesday, where it will begin the delicate process of removing 1.1 million barrels of oil, which are at considerable risk of spilling into the sea.

Once this ticking ecological time bomb has been secured, saving Red Sea ecosystems and fishing communities up and down the coast from almost certain disaster, the Ndeavor will tow the Safer to a green salvage yard.

Achim Steiner, administrator of the UN Development Programme, which is leading the operation as part of a UN-coordinated initiative, called it a “very special day (and) a truly critical milestone for those who have been following the saga of the FSO Safer for years.”

The support vessel Ndeavor en route to the Red Sea after UNDP and Boskalis signed the contract for the company's subsidiary SMIT Salvage to transfer 1.1 million barrels of oil from the decaying FSO Safer to a replacement vessel. (Supplied)

The Ndeavor’s arrival is “simply one more step in a very critical complex operation, but it’s a great signal both for the people and the planet, really, in Yemen, in the Red Sea, but also for this idea that multilateralism, in this moment the UN, truly is illustrating what it means to take preventive action,” Steiner said on Wednesday.

“Nothing could be a more drastic illustration of what it means to stop this catastrophe potentially from happening. And doing so at the fraction of the cost that it would take to clean up an oil spill of this magnitude.”

The 47-year-old Safer has had little or no maintenance since the war in Yemen began in 2015 and has deteriorated to such an extent that experts fear it is in imminent danger of springing a leak, catching fire, or exploding.

The UN has warned that a spill could be four times bigger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off the coast of Alaska, which is considered the world’s worst oil spill in terms of environmental damage.

Experts estimate a major leak from the Safer could severely damage Red Sea ecosystems upon which around 30 million people depend for a living, including 1.6 million Yemenis, according to the UN.

Such a spill would devastate fisheries along Yemen’s west coast and destroy livelihoods in fishing communities, many of which are already dependent on humanitarian assistance in order to survive owing to the war.

Staff of a vessel in charge of unloading oil from the decaying vessel FSO Safer are pictured off the coast of Ras Issa, Yemen, prior to the start of an operation led by the United Nations to avoid an oil spill in the Red Sea. (AFP)

A spill could also disrupt commercial shipping on the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest waterways, which accounts for 10 percent of all global trade, and could adversely affect littoral states, including Saudi Arabia, Djibouti and Eritrea.

If a fire broke out aboard the rusting vessel, more than 8.4 million people could be exposed to toxic pollutants.

The salvage operation has been split into two phases. First, the oil will be transferred to a replacement tanker, Nautica, before it is then moved to a permanent storage facility until the political situation in Yemen allows for it to be sold or moved elsewhere.

Although the Ndeavor’s arrival at the site of the Safer marks an important milestone, Gressly was quick to call this “just the first step of the operations,” adding that many steps remain before the work is finished.

“We need to get the (Safer) prepared for the transfer of oil (and) bring in the new vessel to receive the oil,” he told Wednesday’s press conference.

“We need to detach the old vessel, tow it away for scrapping, and then bring in a lay that will be used to attach the new vessel to the pipeline. Until all four pieces are complete, we really won’t have a fully secure oil storage and protection for the environment.”

Decaying vessel FSO Safer is moored off the coasts of Ras Issa prior to the start of an operation led by the UN to unload it, in the Red Sea. (AFP)

Gressly highlighted the “very volatile environment that we’re working in, politically and security-wise,” adding that it would be “naive to believe that we’d be able to do all of this without any hiccup or obstacle.”

However, “we have so far been able to overcome every obstacle that has come our way,” he said, thanking the Yemeni government for its support.

“Even though the parties are in conflict, the fact that they see the greater danger and greater belief to contribute that they put in $5 million of their own funding to this project, I think shows how everybody can come together to confront a common threat,” he said.

Gressly thanked Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Germany, the US, the UK, the EU, and 19 other states for their contributions. He also thanked Djibouti for hosting the operation, various firms that contributed to the UN effort, and the “very significant contribution of Egypt’s Suez Canal authorities, which have provided free passage for the Ndeavor.”

Indeed, reaching this point has been an extremely long slog, with political and financial barriers along the way. “Often people ask why is it taking so long,” Steiner said.

IN NUMBERS

* 1.1 m Barrels of oil stored aboard the FSO Safer.

* $114m Money raised by UN for salvage operation.

* $29m Money needed to complete the operation.

* 30 m People who might have been affected by a leak.

“Let me tell you, with the arrival of the Ndeavor, we mark an extraordinarily intense process of trying to first of all, in the negotiations led by David (Gressly) in Yemen with all the parties concerned, to create the conditions and an agreement within which we could actually mount such a salvage operation.”

Then the team had to mount “a major fundraising operation that leads us to, at this point in time, having almost secured the majority of the funding — the total cost for the two phases or the two parts of this operation are about $142 million.

“For the emergency phase, which is literally to get the oil off the FSO Safer, we are still missing $14 million, and this is something that we are trying desperately to secure in the next few days in order to be able to complete that phase.

“We had also to secure a large vessel that is essentially uniquely built for the purpose of transporting oil, and in today’s marketplace that proved almost impossible. Prices have doubled and vessels were unavailable.

“We finally managed to secure one and purchase it even though we were not yet clear whether we could get all the funding.”

Left: Achim Steiner, administrator of the UN Development Programme; Right: David Gressly, the UN resident coordinator for Yemen. (Supplied)

In order to source the required funding, “enormous and complex preparatory steps had to be taken over the last few months from actually finding your shipbroker, maritime lawyers, oil spill experts, developing contingency plans, security plans, and negotiating insurance policies,” said Steiner.

“In fact, we completed only on Friday evening at midnight the negotiation of the necessary insurance policy package, which then allowed us to immediately give the signal for the Ndeavor to depart early Monday morning sunrise from Djibouti and arrive there (on Tuesday).”

Asked by Arab News why the relatively meager sum needed for the salvage operation had proven so difficult to raise, Steiner said: “There are certainly, in the corporate world and in the sectors from shipping to oil and gas, extraordinary moments of profitability. And I think this is one reason why we also had hoped that there would be a stronger stepping forward. 

“Having said that, the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers has pledged $10 million and we are working the phones right now. Let’s say to CEOs: ‘Come on. We have to close this gap right now.’ Even school children in Maryland have donated to this. It would be truly an ironic and missed opportunity not to step up.”

It was not only the matter of funding that held up the operation. For years, the Houthi militia, which controls whole swathes of Yemen, including Hodeidah, had been causing delays, preventing experts from assessing the condition of the Safer and making emergency repairs.

The militias repeatedly made new demands focusing on logistics and security arrangements.

“We understand that many member states, including donors to the project, are extremely concerned by these new delays. We, of course, share those concerns,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told a press briefing in 2021.

The support vessel Ndeavor en route to the Red Sea after UNDP and Boskalis signed the contract for the company's subsidiary SMIT Salvage to transfer 1.1 million barrels of oil from the decaying FSO Safer to a replacement vessel. (Supplied)

Frustrated is not the right word for how negotiators feel, he said at the time, adding: “I think ‘increased worry’ is the right expression.

“We’ve been talking about this for two years now. By the grace of God, there has not been a major leak. The more we wait, the chances of a major leak are increasing. Time is not on anyone’s side.”

Gressly says that ever since the Houthis signed an agreement with the UN in March 2022, they have been cooperating. “I am confident they will continue to honor that (agreement),” he told Arab News.

And although the Houthis are not involved in the direct implementation of operations, they are involved “in securing the perimeter. They’re involved in discussions with us on how this will be done. And they are very much involved in the details as well.

“We’ve worked in great detail over the last few weeks with them to go through each of the steps so that they’re comfortable with everything. They have their own technical experts as well. Good expertise, actually, both in Aden and Sanaa.”

Gressly paid tribute to the crew — “probably poorly paid and supported” — that has kept the Safer afloat for the past several years.

“In fact, we met one of them today. And I had to congratulate him as one of the unsung heroes of the FSO Safer because they’ve been keeping this thing afloat while we figured out how to organize this kind of rescue.”


France urges Lebanon to lift immunity of envoy accused of rape, violence

France urges Lebanon to lift immunity of envoy accused of rape, violence
Updated 03 June 2023

France urges Lebanon to lift immunity of envoy accused of rape, violence

France urges Lebanon to lift immunity of envoy accused of rape, violence
  • The Lebanese Foreign Ministry claimed on Saturday that it did not receive any French request to lift immunity for Rami Adwan
  • Authorities in France opened an investigation into Adwan following the complaints issued by the two former embassy employees

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s ambassador to France is being investigated over rape and assault allegations following complaints by two former embassy employees, with French authorities requesting the lifting of his diplomatic immunity.
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry claimed on Saturday that it did not receive any French request to lift immunity for Rami Adwan, 48.
But the French Foreign Ministry told AFP late on Friday: “In view of the seriousness of the facts mentioned, we consider it necessary for the Lebanese authorities to lift the immunity of the Lebanese ambassador in Paris in order to facilitate the work of the French judicial authorities.”
Authorities in France opened an investigation into Adwan following the complaints issued by the two former embassy employees.
Adwan’s lawyer, Karim Beylouni, told AFP: “My client contests all accusations of aggression in any shape or form: verbal, moral, sexual.
“Between 2018 and 2022 he had with these two women romantic relationships punctuated by arguments and breakups.”
A Lebanese lawyer and expert in international law told Arab News on condition of anonymity that “lifting the immunity of the Lebanese ambassador is taken by the competent minister, the minister of foreign affairs, without referring to the Cabinet, which appoints ambassadors to their positions.”
The lawyer added: “However, the matter requires the Ministry of Justice to request the French Foreign Ministry to provide the file of the diplomat targeted by the investigations. After studying the file, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry gives permission to prosecute him in France because the alleged crime was committed in France.”
French investigative website Mediapart reported that the investigation was being conducted based on a complaint “filed by a former employee of the Lebanese Embassy named Ava, who is 31 years old and who said in the police report that she was raped in May 2020 in a private apartment belonging to Ambassador Adwan.”
According to the complaint report, Ava “expressed her refusal to have a sexual relationship and resorted to screaming and crying.”
The 31-year-old alleged that Adwan assaulted her during a fight in his office, but she did not file a complaint “because she did not want to destroy the life of this man, who is married and has a family.”
However, the ambassador “denied raising his hand against her and denounced the baseless accusations.”
He said that Ava “was trying to use their relationship to enhance her position within the embassy.”
In April 2021, the employee informed Adwan that she was leaving her position, and immediately filed a report.
Mediapart reported that Ava “provided the police with WhatsApp messages on that evening and the following day, explicitly accusing him (Adwan) of rape.”
The newspaper said that the French judicial investigation is also communicating with a second complainant, “a 28-year-old Lebanese student named Gabrielle, who had a close relationship with Adwan after starting her internship at the embassy in 2018.
“She worked in the embassy for four years until the end of 2022 and filed a complaint in February of last year, alleging that she was subjected to a series of physical assaults, often resulting from her refusal to have a sexual relationship.”
The report quoted one of Gabrielle’s neighbors, who was also contacted by Mediapart and questioned by the police, as saying that she “woke up around 2 a.m. that night and heard muffled screams.”
The neighbor said she had met the Lebanese ambassador several times and recognized him.
Adwan, previously envoy to Monaco, was appointed ambassador to France in 2017.
 


Iraq and Syria to reopen Semalka border crossing after 3 week closure

Iraq and Syria to reopen Semalka border crossing after 3 week closure
Updated 03 June 2023

Iraq and Syria to reopen Semalka border crossing after 3 week closure

Iraq and Syria to reopen Semalka border crossing after 3 week closure
  • Several meetings took place between mediators and officials in the Kurdistan region of Iraq to reopen the crossing

LONDON: The Semalka Border Crossing between Iraq and Syria is set to reopen on Monday after being closed since May, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Saturday.
The Semalka administration announced that work will be resumed at the border crossing for humanitarian organizations and specific personnel only and will operate three days a week, as per the old mechanism, including Saturday, Monday and Wednesday.
According to the announcement, those allowed to cross are employees of organizations, journalists, holders of foreign residency and nationalities, residents of the Kurdistan region, patients and newly married women.
Commercial movement remains suspended at the present time, the Observatory reported.
The Semalka crossing, located in the Al-Hasakah governorate, connects the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq and the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. It lies north of Faysh Khabur in Iraq and Khanik in Syria.
Several meetings took place in recent days between mediators and officials in the Kurdistan region of Iraq to reopen the crossing, which was closed suddenly on May 11, suspending commercial traffic between the two regions.
The crossing is used to transport patients suffering from incurable diseases and to facilitate the process of commercial movement between the two regions, as well as visitors, especially from abroad. It was also closed last year.