Israel to host Blinken and FMs of UAE, Morocco and Bahrain

TEL AVIV (Agencies): Fo-reign Minister Yair Lapid will host his counterparts from the US, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco for a “historic diplomatic summit” next week, the Foreign Ministry announced on Friday.
The summit will take place on Sunday and Monday, according to its statement, which said more details would follow.
The announcement came a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced his visit to Israel and the West Bank, a move that had taken some analysts by surprise as the top US diplomat had visited less than a year ago and is not expected to announce a major diplomatic initiative.
Blinken will be joined by the UAE’s Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Bahrain’s Abdullatif bin Rashid Al- Zayani and Morocco’s Nasser Bourita in the latest gathering that would likely not have taken place if not for the signing of the Abraham Accords. The 2020 agreements saw Israel normalize ties with the three Arab countries in a matter of months in deals brokered by the Trump administration.
Sunday’s meeting of foreign ministers will take place less than a week after Bennett traveled to the Sinai resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh for the first-ever trilateral summit with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan — another development likely made possible by the Abraham Accords.