New Delhi [India], September 30 (ANI): Reuven Azar, Ambassador of Israel to India, said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was clear that he did not have anything against Qatar itself, but they simply targeted terrorists there. Azar said that now Qatar has a common vision after it accepted the peace proposal by US President Donald Trump.
“Well, the Prime Minister was very clear that we didn’t have any intention against Qatar itself. We targeted terrorists there. We apologized for killing a Qatari citizen that was a guard there. But I think that above that, what gave us the confidence to create this new mechanism with Qatar is that Qatar now is committed to a common vision,” he said.
Azar said that now they have the chance to present their concerns to Qatar, including those of the Jihadis.
“Because in the past, we had the sense that the Qataris are actually striving for getting Hamas to stay in power in the Gulf Stream, which we didn’t agree to. Now I think that that changed. We have a common vision and we can work and we have created this trilateral mechanism in which we will have a chance to present our concerns, including the massive support of some of the Qatari elements to the Muslim Brotherhood and other Jihadi elements,” he said.
While speaking to ANI on international recognition of Palestine by European nations, Azar said that it was a mistake, as they recognized the state without the prerequisites.
“Well, I think that they have made a mistake because in the past, jumping into recognition to statehood without the prerequisites that are needed to build a sound system with institutions that actually are accountable for the Palestinian people can lead to disastrous results,” he said.
“And we’ve seen that time and again, following the Oslo process and after we threw from the Gaza Strip. And we even tried, during the time that Hamas was controlling the Gaza Strip, to try to balance that, to give them incentives to actually stabilize the situation. It was a huge mistake because when you have people in power that are not committed to peace, that are not committed to democracy, are not committed to cooperation with international community, then the results can be terrible as we’ve seen manifested on the 7th of October,” he added.
On being asked if Pakistan will recognise Israel in future, Azar said that he hoped they do it, as it is an essential step to show themselves as committed to de-radicalisation.
“I hope they do. At the end of the day, it is a very important step forward that both Arab and Muslim countries have committed themselves to this vision, have joined this vision of de-radicalization. I think it’s a good step forward and we’ll see in the future what will happen,” he said.
Azar said that Hamas will accept the proposal only after being prodded on by Egypt and Qatar.
“It depends mainly on the pressure that will be put forward by Qatar in Egypt. And we hope that pressure works. And we wouldn’t like to see the alternative, but we have no choice. We have to go for the alternative,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Qatar, Jordan, UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt welcomed the proposal by the US to end the Gaza conflict. (ANI)
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