MANAMA: Israel is a reality and denial to its existence will only complicate the situation in the Middle East.
“The denial to Israel’s statehood will only complicate the already complex and fragile security landscape in the region,” says Yousef Bin Alawi, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, State of Oman.
Omani Foreign Minister told the audience while answering questions during the 3rd Plenary Session of 14th IISS Manama Dialogue Security Summit held in Bahrain and told the participants that Israel’s existence as a state is fact and denial to it would only complicate the security landscape of this region.
Let me say for the first time, he added, Israel is a reality and all neighbours should respect statehood of this country and by the region that only can guarantee the creation of Palestine state as part of two states solution to this 70 years old conflict.
There have been flurry of questions during the session in the backdrop of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s meeting with Sultan Qaboos of Sultanate of Oman on Friday where both leaders for the first time discussed the bilateral issues and how a durable peace can be achieved. Since then Oman has defended its diplomatic move as prudent and pragmatic and step forward in a right direction.
Asked how Oman can have talks with Israeli Prime Minister while Palestinians are still being brutally killed and attacked by the world’s most advanced military power?
“Someone has to start from somewhere the continuous state of denial to the existence of Israel will only further complicate the security situation and blood of innocent Palestinians continue to bleed. So the sanity prevails in having talks with Israel and boosts their confidence as an independent state, which has been a reality since 1948. “In case of failure of doing that there will be no peace, no end to terrorism, no end to atrocities and on the top of it no change to the plight of the most affected Palestinian people,” Minister Alawi explicitly explained.
Defending the Oman’s move, the Minister Alawi said that the GCC had been created to safeguard the interests of the founding members, which he said, still intact and working.
Prophets of Israel born in the Middle East and Jews used to live in this part of the world, adds Minister Alawi citing reference to Toorah. “This is very simple that no solution can be achieved by excluding the concerned party and ithere is a need of concerned efforts to seek a durable and workable peace in the Middle East,” the Minister added.