"They didn't want Israel, Saudi Arabia to get closer"; Israeli envoy
Oct 12, 2023
New Delhi [India], October 12 : Israeli Ambassador to India, Naor Gilon on Thursday asserted that the recent attacks on Israel are driven to sow unrest between Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf nations.
These attacks also aimed to disrupt the relationships established by the Abraham Accords and the I2U2 grouping, which led to increased communication between Israel and the Gulf countries.
He also mentioned that the attacks targeted disrupting relations which were established by the Abraham Accords and I2U2 grouping which resulted in settlement of communication between Israel and Gulf Countries.
"I believe that the motivations they had here they saw that the Middle East is going in a good direction. Three years ago the Abraham Accords Gulf countries getting closer to Israel. I2U2 as economic foreign coming out of it, cooperation started," he said.
He added, "India was very much involved. India is also involved in the idea of creating transportation and communication connections between India and the Mediterranean through the Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia and Israel. So all of that these people didn't want it to happen and they didn't want Israel and Saudi Arabia to get closer."
The Abraham Accords, brokered by the Trump administration, comprise a set of agreements that Israel signed with four Arab nations: the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Morocco, Bahrain, and Sudan. These agreements were established between September 2020 and January 2021.
According to India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Abraham Accords are bilateral agreements on Arab-Israeli normalization signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on September 15, 2020.
Additionally, the I2U2 Group is a grouping of India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. The group's first joint statement, released on July 14, 2022, states that the countries aim to cooperate on "joint investments and new initiatives in water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security, said MEA.
Gilon also affirmed Israel's commitment to taking stringent action to eliminate extremist groups from the region.
Ambassador asserted, "I think we will go very far because if not, it will harm all the moderate regimes in the Middle East and we have to make sure that the radicals...the same radical religious ideology that has to be uprooted and we are going to uproot as much as we can at least this part of these extremists."
Meanwhile, for the sixth day in a row, sirens sounded in southern Israel amid Hamas attacks in the region, said Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
The death toll in Israel since the Hamas attack on October 7 has jumped to 1,300 and some 3300 have been injured, including 28 in critical condition and 350 in serious condition, The Times of Israel reported citing Hebrew media reports.
The fate of an estimated 150 people abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip during the attack by Hamas is still unclear, the report said.
Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the military has so far notified families of 97 hostages who were being held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip, The Times of Israel reported.
