Israel 'Normalizing' Ties With Arab World: Netanyahu

By Abdel Raouf Arnaout





Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a "normalization" process was taking place with the Arab world without achieving progress in peace talks with the Palestinians.





"What is happening at the moment is that we are in a process of normalization with the Arab world without progress in the diplomatic process with the Palestinians," Netanyahu said during a reception at the Foreign Ministry premises attended by Israeli ambassadors in Latin America,Asia and Africa late Sunday, according to a statement issued by his office.



"Today we are going there [normalization] without the Palestinians being involved and it is much stronger because it does not depend on their caprices. The Arab states are looking for links with the strong. Cultivating strengths gives us diplomatic power," he said.





Netanyahu said Israel believes that a breakthrough with the Palestinians would improve ties with Arabs but "this would have been true if it had happened."





"It seemed as if it was about to happen with the Oslo process but what happened was that the Arab refusal...," he said.





From time to time, Netanyahu boasts that Israel's ties with the neighboring Arab countries are improving.





Late in October, the Israeli premier paid a surprise visit to Oman where he met with the Gulf country's ruler Sultan Qaboos.





However, as it currently stands, Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab League member-states to maintain formal relations with Israel. -