Casablanca – Three months after vowing to increase cooperation at the “historic” Negev Summit in Israel, diplomats from the United States, Israel, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, and Morocco met in Bahrain on Monday, June 27.
The meeting in Bahrain’s capital Manama brought together foreign ministry officials from each country to discuss “the operative ways in which cooperation can be promoted in a manner that will lead to tangible achievements for the region and its people,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It added, “The convening of the steering conference is further evidence of the importance that the member states of the forum see in anchoring the framework and regional cooperation created in it in a variety of civic areas that affect the entire region and its people, without geographical or political boundaries.”
The main purpose of the summit, according to a joint statement reported by the US Department of State, is to further coordinate the participating nations’ efforts and advance a shared vision for the region.
Bahrain’s meeting provided the committees with another opportunity to highlight the strength of their relations, their common commitment to collaboration to address shared challenges, and the significant potential made available by improved relations between Israel and its neighbors, the statement adds.
Participants also agreed that these ties can be used to generate momentum in Israeli-Palestinian relations toward a negotiated resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis to reach durable and complete peace.
During their discussion, the Steering Committee addressed the assignment of the chairmen to each of the six Working Groups established by the ministers at the Negev Summit: Clean Energy, Education and Coexistence, Food and Water, Security, Health, Regional Security, and Tourism.
In order to advance their political agenda, the joint committees agreed to meet regularly throughout the year.
Israel will continue to serve as President of the Negev Forum until the next Ministerial meeting, the US Department of State reported in its joint statement.
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In March, the joint countries met for the first time on Israeli soil in the Sde Boker kibbutz in the Negev desert, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken joining his counterparts.
The past two years have witnessed a normalization of relations between Israel and several Arab nations.
Under the Abraham Accords, mediated by former US President Donald Trump, the UAE and Bahrain normalized diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020.
Morocco then re-established its own diplomatic ties with Israel through a separate arrangement arbitrated by the Trump administration.
Morocco has traditionally sustained a closer relationship with Israel than its fellow Arab countries.
Although Morocco did not legally recognize Israel until the Abraham Accords, it maintained informal links with the Jewish State and permitted Israelis to visit.
