GCC head: No 鈥榖usiness as usual鈥� with Israel
GCC head: Gulf leaders should not continue a 鈥榖usiness as usual鈥� relationship with Israel
Gulf leaders should not continue a 鈥榖usiness as usual鈥� relationship between their states and Israel, the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has told the 麻豆约拍.
The GCC members are Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and the UAE. Bahrain and the UAE had chosen to normalise their relations with Israel in the Abraham Accords and talks were progressing with Saudi Arabia to follow suit.
But Jasem Albudaiwi told the HARDtalk progamme鈥檚 Stephen Sackur that after Israel鈥檚 military action in Gaza (which followed Hamas鈥檚 attacks on Israel on October 7), 鈥榥ormalisation鈥� should not continue as before. 鈥楧o you think Stephen, now, after all this massacre, after all this barbaric killing in Gaza, it will be business as usual? I personally don鈥檛 think so鈥 don鈥檛 agree with it.鈥� Saudi Arabia announced shortly after the October 7 attacks that it had put its normalisation talks on hold.
Mr Albudaiwi acknowledged that it is for each individual country to make its own choice about their relationship with Israel in their own way. 鈥業t鈥檚 a sovereign decision. Each country deals with it in its own way. That鈥檚 why you saw two countries went ahead with it with the Abraham Accords.鈥�
