Several Arab governments reacted furiously, on August 13, to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s having said, in a TV interview on August 12, that he felt a connection to the vision of “Greater Israel.” Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, and the Arab League all issued statements censuring Netanyahu’s comments, and warning that they threaten regional and global stability, reported the Times of Israel. Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it condemns Netanyahu’s remarks, referring to them as a “dangerous and provocative escalation.” Egypt’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the remark, saying Cairo had asked Israel for clarification, given the “implications of provoking instability and reflecting a rejection of the pursuit of peace in the region, as well as an insistence on escalation.”
In its own statement, the Qatari Foreign Ministry expressed “its condemnation and denunciation” of Netanyahu’s comments, “considering them an extension of the occupation’s approach based on arrogance, fueling crises and conflicts.” The Arab League’s statement called Netanyahu’s comments a “blatant violation of the sovereignty of Arab states and an attempt to undermine security and stability in the region.”
The anti-occupation Resistance expressed doubt about Jordan and Egypt’s sincerity, however. It pointed out that Jordan and Egypt have both intercepted missiles that were headed towards Israel “sometimes injuring their own citizens, in order to defend the zionist entity, which openly states its intention to expand its occupation into their lands.”
