U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday tried to soothe the fears of Israel and its Gulf Arab allies ahead of the possible renewal of global powers’ international nuclear deal with Iran. Blinken made the comments shortly before joining his counterparts from Israel and four Arab countries at a special gathering where the Iranian nuclear deal was expected to top the agenda. Israel and many of its neighbors are fiercely opposed to the deal, which they believe will embolden and enrich Iran. “When it comes to the most important element, we see eye-to-eye,” Blinken told a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Jerusalem. “We are both committed, both determined that Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon.” In a later press conference with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Blinken boasted that the US increased its humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people to half a billion dollars and said that the US is urging Israel to end construction in Yehudah and Shomron and refrain from demolishing illegal Arab buildings in Jerusalem. It remains unclear if or when the nuclear deal will be renewed, but there are indications it could be soon despite several last-minute snags. The negotiations have been complicated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia is among the six global powers negotiating with Iran, and condemnations by the U.S. and other western powers involved in the talks have added an element of uncertainty to the talks. If a deal is reached, Israel has repeatedly noted that it is not a party to the agreement and reserves the right to take action, including a potential military strike, against Iran if it feels it is necessary. “Israel and the United States will continue to work together to prevent a nuclear Iran. At the same time, Israel will do anything we believe is needed to stop the Iranian nuclear program. Anything,” Lapid said. “From our point of view the Iranian threat is not theoretical. The Iranians want to destroy Israel. They will not succeed, we will not let them.” מתחילים את היום ההיסטורי. מזכיר המדינה האמריקאי, אנתוני בלינקן ואני בהצהרות מיוחדות לתקשורת. הצטרפו לשידור החי> https://t.co/hFYDJZrkPh — יאיר לפיד – Yair Lapid🟠 (@yairlapid) March 27, 2022 Underscoring regional anxieties, Israel’s government has hastily arranged a meeting of top diplomats from Arab countries that have normalized relations with Israel and Blinken. The two-day gathering is set to begin later Sunday at a kibbutz in the Negev Desert. In addition to Blinken and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, their counterparts from Bahrain, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt will attend. All four countries are considered moderate Sunni Muslim nations that have deep concerns about Iranian activity across the region. Meanwhile, U.S. preoccupation with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and bolstering NATO’s presence in Eastern Europe has fueled concerns throughout the Middle East that America’s attention may be stretched thin. It remained unclear whether any decisions would emerge from the diplomatic gathering. But for Israel, hosting such a gathering itself is a significant accomplishment. Egypt is the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, while the other three nations normalized relations with Israel in 2020 in the so-called Abraham Accords brokered by the Trump administration. “For those who weren’t paying attention, the foreign relations of Israel are in a good period,” Israeli […]

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