‘Israel’ hints Oman is next to normalize ties, join Abraham Accords

A top Israeli foreign ministry official suggested that Oman will likely be the next country to join the so-called Abraham Accords, leading to full normalization between them, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Eliav Benjamin, the head of Israel’s foreign ministry’s bureau of the Middle East and Peace Process Division, met via Zoom with reporters on Tuesday to discuss the status of the Abraham Accords.
Asked which country might be next, Benjamin singled out Oman as a country that ‘Israel’ has sustained low-level relations with since 1991, when a round of peace talks were held in Madrid.
“With Oman, we have ongoing cooperation and plans,” Benjamin said, noting that it was one of a handful of Arab countries to allow ‘Israel’ to establish an interests office after the 1993 Israel-Palestinian Oslo agreement.
Those offices shut down after the launch of the Second Intifada in 2000, during which at least 4,973 Palestinians were killed over the course of it. Among them were 1,262 children, 274 women and 32 medical personnel.
Despite this, ‘Israel’ remains involved in MEDRC, a freshwater research facility established in Oman in 1996, Benjamin said. “So we already have relations with Oman,” he said.
He suggested that Oman might opt for full normalization sooner rather than later.
The UAE was the first country to agree to normalize ties with the occupation state last year under the so-called Abraham Accords, a pact brokered by the United States, a move that was followed by Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
Palestinians condemned the normalization agreements, saying they encouraged Israel’s denial of their rights and do not serve the Palestinian cause.
Abu Dhabi said the deal was an effort to stave off Israel’s planned annexation of the occupied West Bank, however, opponents believe normalization efforts have been in the offing for many years as Israeli officials have made official visits to the UAE and attended conferences in the country which had no diplomatic or other ties with the occupation state.