Behind Closed Doors: The Negev Summit: Israeli and Arabs Jointly Deliver a Tough Message to Secretary Blinken April 1, 2022

1. Summary:

The Negev Summit took place on March 29, 2022, with Foreign Ministers from Israel, UAE, Egypt, Morocco and Bahrain on one side, and the US State Secretary Blinken on the other. The united Ministers exhibited solidarity and a unified position against the Biden Administration’s “talks with Iran” and growing rumours that the US will remove Iran’s terrorist arm, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, from the Department of State’s terror list. The unprecedented defiance of the Biden Administration is a strong indication that moderate Arabs and Israel no longer trust President Biden and his team, whom they view as “week”. This act of defiance against US policies in the region will most likely be sustained for the foreseen future as a new Middle East is emerging fast.

Setting the Stage:
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2. The Foreign Ministers of Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) came together on March 29th, 2022 in Israel’s Negev Desert for two reasons. The First was to celebrate the first year of the signing of the historic agreements between the countries, with the Second being to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and let him know what they think of the nuclear agreement the USA and Iran are about the sign. The summit came on the heels of a private meeting that took place in Egypt two days earlier between Egypt’s President Sisi, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, and the Crown Prince of UAE, Mohammad Bin Zayed. It is believed that this meeting was to put together a unified position against Iran.

Did Israel and The Arabs Get What They Wanted from The Summit?
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3. JaFaJ sources connected with the Summit’s organizer have confirmed that the purpose of the summit was to show solidarity between the Middle Eastern countries who gathered in peace, while protesting the Biden Administration’s policy on Iran. According to a senior Arab Gulf intelligence officer, “The meeting was just to show that they were all on the same page”. The source added, “The summit was at the Foreign Ministers’ level, and as such, not much could have been discussed with American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, because in Arab countries, Foreign Ministers do not make policies, their leaders do”. The source continued by saying that “The best they could have done was deliver their leaders’ almost unanimous message on Iran to Blinken, and they did”.

Blinken Selling “Kosher Ham”
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4. A source who serves as a senior government official in a leading Arab Gulf country, reported to JaFaJ that Blinken delivered a message of friendship and commitment to “promoting peace and security of US Arab allies and Israel”. At the same time, “he confirmed to his Arab and Israeli counterparts that the US sees negotiating with Iran as the best way to harness its nuclear ambitions”. The source then told JaFaj that he also didn’t refer to the news that the US was considering removing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the State Department’s Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list. [COMMENT: The IRGC is considered Iran’s top Special Forces and main terror arm that is stained with bloody fingers and hands thanks to their involvement in terrorism and civil wars across the Middle East and throughout the world. Through their proxies, the intelligence community knows that the IRGC has carried out terrorist attacks against several Arab countries, including the UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. They are clearly proud of their actions and have even taken credit for targeted attacks against Israeli civilians and interest multiple times. In Iran, the IRGC is considered the backbone of the Mullahs’ regime. END COMMENT]

5. The source added, “We are not buying any of this, nor are the Israelis. Mr. Blinken is trying to sell us a ham sandwich and call it Kosher. I’m sorry, we’re not buying it”. At this point, “The Americans have to choose between us and the Israelis on one side, and Iran on the other. They cannot continue to believe that they can have their cake and eat it too”. The source added, “We and the Israelis are strong together and we do not need anyone else, and we can make friends and allies easily and they may be more dependable than the United States”.

Arab Ministers Pressing Blinken
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6. JaFaJ sources in Israel and an unnamed Arab Gulf state have confirmed that the “Foreign Ministers gathered at the Negev Summit were confrontational and rather defiant to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken”. An Israeli source who is very close to one senior official involved with the Summit reported that the Summit’s general atmosphere seemed to be “tense and complicated”. He explained “Unlike the usual friendly and appeasing approach the Americans always get here, this time, the gatherers were not exactly friendly to the Blinken. They were asking critical questions, they were protesting US ties to Iran, they were angry, very angry and all of their diplomatic words could not vail their anger”.

7. JaFaJ has confirmed that the issues raised by the Arab Ministers of State were led by the UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bin Zayed. Abdallah was reported to have spoken on behalf of all Arab gatherers, including Bahrain and Morocco. [COMMENT: Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed is the brother of UAE’s Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Zayed. The latter is considered one of the strongest men in the Middle East with unmistaken influence stretching from the Arab Gulf to Morocco. Like his brother, Abdallah is known for being very strong, charismatic, and direct, with a very right-to-the-point approach, driving hard bargains and is often described as a ruthless negotiator. END COMMENT]

8. JaFaJ can also confirm that the Foreign Ministers who gathered at the Negev Summit were “upset” about the fact that the Biden Administration was possibly going to remove the IRGC from the terror blacklist. JaFaJ was told that “Blinken was harshly scolded because America’s policy will destabilize the Middle East”. Blinken was also told that “the Israelis and the [Sunni] Arabs were unified against the Biden policies on Iran.”

Why Are the Egyptians So Quiet?
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9. Despite the strong Arab and Israeli positions on Iran exhibited before Secretary Blinken, the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sameh Shukri, remained mostly silent. “Aside from the diplomatic complements, and the regular clichés of friendship, he did not make any statements, and was very careful when Bin Zayed [UAE’s Foreign Minister] and Yair Lapid became confrontational with Blinken over Iran”.

10. Comment: Egypt’s Foreign Minister cannot usually make any statements without a direct order from President Sisi who is known to “micromanage his cabinet members and the presentation of Egyptian policy on the national stage”. Sisi is not totally against Iran as he aspires to execute the New Sham Deal, or the New Levant Deal, signed between him, Abdallah of Jordan, and the Iran-controlled Iraqi government. The deal sees the exportation of Iraqi oil to Europe via pipelines stretching from Basra, Southern Iraq, to Aqaba seaport in Jordan and then to Egypt for export to Europe. This move is considered a huge empowerment of Iran and direct economic competition to Arab Gulf oil exports and profits. Also, as reported by JaFaJ (see https://www.jafaj.net/israel-will-bomb-iran-guaranteed/ ), Israel is planning to stop Iran from achieving nuclear status and will most likely do so by military means. Sisi is not supportive of this move.

Conclusion
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11. Even though the Negev Summit can be considered an overall success, at one point it became a vocal confrontation between the Middle East’s moderate forces and the Biden Administration. The fact that the Arab and Israeli Ministers were defiant and critical of the US policy towards Iran, is an indication that the Biden Administration is viewed at best as weak, or at worst, a growing enemy to the Middle East region.

12. A united Arab and Israeli core group is an indication of what’s in store for the Biden Administration, a new Middle East is about to rear its head. And when it does, it will clearly challenge the conflicting calls that are being made by foreign forces – especially the US administration – which are viewed as conflicting with the interests of Arab Gulf States and Israel. This will unify the Middle East around issues of importance to those in the region while changing alliances.