Mladenov: Palestinians can gain from Israel’s normalization deals

Jerusalem (QNN)- Former UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov said that Palestinians could gain from Israel’s normalization agreements with Arab countries, potentially strengthening their hand in peace talks.
In an interview with New York Times published Saturday, Mladenov expressed hope that Arab-Israeli normalization deals would benefit the Palestinian cause by creating leverage on ‘Israel’. But for that, he said, the Palestinians would need to put aside their anger and sense of betrayal.
“OK, now it’s very emotional, the Palestinians are super angry,” Mladenov said.
“But put away those emotions and think: Who’s most effective when they try to push Israel to do certain things? Egypt and Jordan. If four, six or 10 Arab countries have embassies in Tel Aviv, you’d want them to be on your side, right?”
“You now have a treaty,” he added. “That’s a big thing. Neither Israel nor the Arab countries will want to ruin it. That gives certain countries leverage in Israel. If you’re the Palestinians, you’ll really want to explain to your Arab brothers and friends what your positions are, and bring them back to the table on your side of the conversation.”
He said that normalization deals were creating exciting possibilities for his successor as U.N. envoy, the Norwegian diplomat Tor Wennesland.
“It’s a different world,”. Mladenov said. “And you know, for all its faults, it might actually be a better one.”
Mladenov wasn’t seen as bias towards one side. He made it a habit to regularly denounce both ‘Israel’ and Palestine when crossing red lines according to UN standards.
“If you as the UN are not clear where you stand on these things, you can’t be credible,” he said.
“And I suppose that being critical of both the Israelis and the Palestinians, where I felt that they’ve done things wrong, and welcoming them when they’ve done things right, I think that’s a novelty in this frozen conflict.”