Israel Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi spoke today on the phone with his Omani counterpart, Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah. The rare phone call focused on the Israeli-United Arab Emirates (UAE) normalization accord, announced Aug. 13, and other recent regional developments. After the phone call, Ashkenazi tweeted, "We spoke about recent developments in the region, the normalization agreement with the United Arab Emirates and the need to strengthen relations between Israel and Oman." He added, "The Omani Foreign Minister emphasized the strong stance of the Sultan and his [support for] achieving of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East as well as the need to resume peace negotiations."
Relations between Israel and Oman had warmed up in recent years, and especially since 2018 when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, visited Muscat and met with Sultan Qaboos. The phone call today might indicate that Oman would be next in line for establishing diplomatic ties with Israel.
