Arab countries when speaking publicly on the subject, with the exception of Egypt and Jordan which have peace deals with Israel and maintain diplomatic relations.
Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar do not have diplomatic relations with Israel — although that does not prevent them from sharing informal links.
Retired Saudi general Anwar Eshki met Israel’s then-foreign ministry director general Dore Gold in Jerusalem last July. The pair shared a stage a year earlier at a Washington think tank.
At the time, they spoke of the peace process, stalled since 2014, and pledged to reinvigorate the Arab Peace Initiative.
Also known as the “Saudi initiative,” the 2002 plan called for normalization of relations between Israel and Arab states in exchange for a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
The initiative was revived in July 2013 by then-US secretary of state John Kerry, prior to his mediating Israeli-Palestinian talks nine months later.
But now the Trump administration has an opportunity to push for the proposed US-Israeli-Sunni Arab alliance, said Robert Satloff, executive director of conservative think tank the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
“Israel’s real strategic need from Washington goes far beyond the bilateral relationship. What Israel — along with other longstanding US allies in the region — really needs is a reassertion of American leadership after a period of perceived indifference by the Obama administration,” he said.
Israeli Minister Ayoob Kara, in a tweet, welcomed “the expected regional peace summit of Arab leaders in Washington… This is the new Trump-Netanyahu Middle East.” – AFP