Likud deputy Eli Cohen, the great architect of the normalization of relations between Israel and the Arab countries, becomes foreign minister.
Former Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen, who played an important role in normalizing relations between Israel and Arab countries, was appointed Israel’s foreign minister on Thursday by Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu announced Mr. Cohen’s appointment during a speech in Parliament presenting his government’s guidelines which must be ratified by a vote of MPs on Thursday and succeed the motley coalition led by outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
In mid-2020, Israel announced the normalization of its relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, then Sudan and Morocco, under the “Abraham Accords”.
In January 2021, Cohen led the first official delegation led by an Israeli minister to Khartoum in the wake of the normalization of relations between these two countries.
He takes office as Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to extend the ‘Abraham Accords’ to Saudi Arabia.
“We have laid the groundwork for Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords. The secret details will be passed on to the new prime minister,” Lapid told parliament on Thursday without delving into these “secret details”.
“If the new government continues on the path it has started, normalization with the Saudis could happen in the short term,” added the outgoing prime minister.
