Qatar FM Opposes Normalization with Israel

While speculation in recent weeks has placed Qatar as one of the next Arab nations in line to normalize ties with Israel, the Gulf state’s foreign minister on Monday seemed to pour some cold water on those hopes. In a conversation with the Global Security Forum, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said recent normalization agreements between the Jewish state and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan were mistakes that would undermine the Palestinian cause for statehood. “I think it’s better to have a united front to put the interests of the Palestinians [first] to end the [Israeli] occupation,” Al Thani said, while admitting that “at the end of the day,” it was up to those states that did establish official relations with Israel to “decide what is best for their countries.” In the past three months, Jerusalem, with the assistance of Washington, signed the historic Abraham Accords with several Arab states. Both Israeli and American leaders have hinted that similar pacts with Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar were in the making and would soon be revealed.