Ahead of Herzog’s UAE trip, editor of Arab Times calls for Kuwait to normalise ties

On the eve of Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s historic first visit to the United Arab Emirates, the editor-in-chef of the English-language Arab Times newspaper has written a passionate editorial calling for normalisation of relations between Israel and Kuwait.

President Herzog and his wife Michal landed in Abu Dhabi on Sunday morning, overflying Saudi Arabia en route. They were greeted and welcomed by the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan. The Israeli president was due to embark on a full programme of working meetings with UAE ministers and officials.

The Israeli president’s visit is part of the co-operation agreed in the Abraham Accords, signed in August 2020 between Israel and the UAE and Israel and Bahrain. But there has always been the expectation that more Arab states would want peace agreements with Israel.

In an astonishing editorial in which he repeatedly called the Palestinians “ungrateful” for what the Gulf States had offered them, the Arab Times editor-in-chief Ahmed al-Jarallah said: “Enough is enough. The camel’s back has been broken from the burden of grief we bear due to the ingratitude of the Palestinians. They have been encouraging terrorism against us, issuing calls to kill us…All the Gulf states should normalise relations with Israel due to the fact that peace with this most advanced country is the right thing to do. Let the foolish fend for themselves”.

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