UNITED NATIONS, 16 September 2005 — The foreign ministers of Israel and Qatar met on the sidelines of the UN summit yesterday, a sign of further movement toward improving relations between the Jewish state and the Arab world in the wake of Israel’s Gaza withdrawal.
The talks — a first step in efforts to arrange an Israeli-Qatari summit — came a day after Qatar’s foreign minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani, urged Arab nations to open up to the Jewish state.
In line with that trend, Sheikh Hamad said it was possible for Qatar to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel before the formation of an independent Palestine.
“It could happen,” he told reporters before heading into closed meetings with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. “But we need to see a timetable — how we will start the peace process and how we will end.”
Arabs have proposed a peace plan calling for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which would all be part of a Palestinian state. They also demand Israel give up the Golan Heights captured from Syria. In return, they have said, they will offer Israel normal relations and peace with the Arab world.
Shalom, who posed for photographs with the Qatari minister, said he welcomed the fact that Israel’s once-covert meetings with Arab leaders were now out in the open.
“There’s no reason to continue with secrecy,” he said.
The two ministers said there were no arrangements yet for a summit between the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon — but setting up a summit was the apparent purpose of the meeting. On Wednesday, Sharon spokesman Asaf Shariv said Israel was working on fixing talks.
Addressing the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday, Sheikh Hamad saluted Israel for quitting Gaza and said Arab nations must respond with their own overtures.
“Arab countries must take a step toward Israel through an international meeting or a meeting between Arab states and Israel and the co-sponsors of peace, particularly the United States, in an attempt to come up with a clear vision to the period after Gaza,” he said.
Shalom, on the first day of the summit honoring the world body’s 60th anniversary, also urged Arab and Islamic states to open contacts with Israel if they want to help the cause of peace in the Middle East. He maintained that Israel was making progress on that front but did not divulge details.
“I think all the Arab and Muslim countries should know that if they would like to help the Palestinians they should have good contacts with both sides,” he told reporters Wednesday. “Otherwise, it will be impossible for them to help the Palestinians.”
On Tuesday, Shalom met for the first time with the foreign minister of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, an Israeli with knowledge of the discussion said Wednesday.
It was yet another diplomatic dividend Israel has reaped from the Gaza pullout that ended 38 years of military occupation.
