Qatar Says It Won’t Normalize Ties With Israel

Qatari Assistant Foreign Minister Lolwah Alkhater told Bloomberg News in a Sept. 14 that Qatar won’t be normalizing ties with Israel.

“We don’t think that normalization was the core of this conflict and hence it can’t be the answer,” Alkhater said. “The core of this conflict is about the drastic conditions that the Palestinians are living under [as] people without a country, living under occupation.”

However, she did express optimism that the boycott against Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt would soon end.

“It’s very early to talk about a real breakthrough [but] the coming few weeks might reveal something new,” Alkhater said.

In 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar and blocked Qatari travel routes in the region, and listed 13 demands for Qatar to adhere to in order to reinstate diplomatic relations. Among the demands include severing ties with the Muslim Brotherhood — which the four countries consider to be a terrorist organization — and shutting down Al Jazeera, the television network that the Qatari government funds. Additionally, the four countries demand that Qatar end its friendly ties with Iran.

Alkhater told Bloomberg that talks with the four countries have “moved beyond the 13 demands” but didn’t specify which of the four countries that Qatar is talking to.

Alkhater’s remarks came on Sept. 14, the day before the White House signing ceremony of agreements known as the Abraham Accords, normalizing ties between Israel and the UAE and Israel and Bahrain. President Donald Trump told reporters later that day Saudi Arabia would be among the seven to nine Arab states that might eventually join the UAE and Bahrain in establishing relations with Israel, although the Saudis have said that they won’t normalize ties with Israel until a two-state solution is reached with the Palestinians.

Palestinians responded to the Abraham Accord with “days of rage” protests throughout the West Bank. A Fatah activist also told The Jerusalem Post on Sept. 15, “We are on the brink of a third intifada. The Palestinian people feel betrayed by the Arabs and will show the world that the Palestinian issue remains the central issue of all Arabs and Muslims.”