Tony Blair: The Israeli-Gulf rapprochement is most important variable in region

SANAA, June 4 (YPA) – Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the Israeli-Gulf rapprochement is the most important variable in relations between the countries of the region.
In press statements reported by the “Jewish Chronicle” newspaper, Blair said that the Palestinian issue is in a difficult situation, but “the main reason for hope now in the Middle East in general is the developing relationship between Israel and the Arab countries.”
Blair added that during the past years, through his Gulf relations, he worked on “strengthening the relationship between the Gulf states and Israel”.
“This is the biggest variable in the game in the Middle East,” he added.
Blair avoided criticizing the Israeli government’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, but admitted that the chances for the establishment of a Palestinian state were impossible.
The normalization steps have grown in the recent period at the official and semi-official level between most of the Gulf countries on the one hand and Israel on the other hand, through mutual visits by officials from both sides and Gulf artistic works that support normalization and so on.