Israel Hosts Arab Foreign Ministers, Blinken for Negev Summit

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Saturday night, ahead of historic summit of Middle East foreign ministers in southern Israel, hosted by Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.

Blinken was scheduled to meet with Lapid and with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday morning before heading with Lapid to the southern Israeli city of Sde Boker for what has been dubbed the Negev Summit. The summit, which will take place in the city where Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, made his final home and is buried, will focus mainly on the threat from Iran, as a final nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and the world powers is set to be signed.

The summit, which begins on Sunday evening, will include the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Egypt. Israel signed a peace accord with Egypt in 1979. Israel normalized relations with the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco in 2020 when they signed the US-brokered Abraham Accords.

Blinken reportedly will meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during his visit.