Why Arab countries are striving to establish a ceasefire
In a video released earlier this year on his official TikTok account, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed a group of orphaned children whose soldier fathers had been killed in the war visiting his office.
During this visit, Netanyahu showed the children an image of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in which the mosque was removed and replaced with the Third Temple or Ezekiel’s Temple.
This image, which Netanyahu looks at every day in his office, aids in shaping the awareness and decision-making processes of leadership that aims to expand Israel’s territory through annexation or control of the West Bank and Gaza, and eliminating any possibility of forming a Palestinian state.
Therefore, it was interesting to hear that Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s Foreign Minister, emphasized last week that 57 Arab and Muslim countries are willing to ensure Israel’s security in exchange for the creation of a Palestinian state. Besides the Palestinian issue, Israel has caused significant harm across the region, including to countries that have normalized relations with Tel Aviv, fueling public unrest in them.
However, despite the increase in Israeli settlements, unprecedented attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the lack of a political horizon, Arab countries continue to normalize relations with Israel. This could partly be based on the belief that improved relations provide Arab countries with more leverage to pressure Israel to create a Palestinian state, but what actually happens is quite the opposite.
Netanyahu boasts about how he has managed to advance normalization with Arab countries without solving the Palestinian issue.
Moreover, there is a deep belief in Israeli political culture that Arabs only understand force. So, while last week’s statements by Jordan’s Foreign Minister indicated the worsening situation and the importance of establishing stability in the region, Israel still sees itself as a villa, or perhaps a fortress, in the jungle.
Zionist ethics hold that living by the sword is necessary, and Arabs are essentially the ‘other.’ A prime example is the Palestinian Authority, which, despite decades of security coordination with Israel, Israel continues to relentlessly undermine.
Contrary to Netanyahu’s statements, Israel knows that Arabs are not only not a threat but would defend Israel if needed, as they did during two Iranian missile attacks.
All of this is happening while Israel is led by someone widely regarded as a Machiavellian leader who would do anything to cling to power. Netanyahu, with grand ambitions, exploits the current conflict to relentlessly strike four Arab regions: the Palestinian occupied territories, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.
He misleads the Arab world with promises of a ceasefire when such a plan is not on the table.
Although Safadi has proposed an agreement to guarantee Israel’s security, Tel Aviv does not stop fueling chaos in the region unless Arab countries take tangible steps like recalling ambassadors, cutting diplomatic relations, and setting red lines to apply pressure.
