Israel-Arab states ties need to shift to help progress towards peace - UAE official

Relations between Arab states and Israel need to shift to help progress towards peace with the Palestinians, a senior United Arab Emirates official was quoted on Thursday as saying. The decision by many Arab countries not to talk with Israel has complicated finding a solution over the decades, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said, according to Abu Dhabi-based daily The National.

"Many, many years ago, when there was an Arab decision not to have contact with Israel, that was a very, very wrong decision, looking back," Gargash said, in unusually candid remarks. "Because clearly, you have to really dissect and divide between having a political issue and keeping your lines of communication open." The UAE and other Gulf states criticised U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition this week of Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau captured from Syria in a 1967 war.