Palestine seeks economic relations with Oman
A Palestinian ministerial delegation is preparing to visit Oman early next year as part of efforts to sever economic ties with Israel, but some analysts wonder what benefits are to be gained by either party.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announced on Dec. 9 that a ministerial delegation and representatives of the private sector would visit the Sultanate of Oman in January 2020 to open new avenues for the Palestinian economy and enhance cooperation as part of the strategy of disengaging economically from Israel and focusing on Arab economic depth. The Palestinians' engagement with Oman comes as their economy continues to face serious challenges.
Mohammad Abu Jiab, editor in chief of the Gaza newspaper Al-Eqtesadia, told Al-Monitor, “Oman has great economic, production and oil capacities. It is a fertile country that would be an important resource for Palestinians in terms of employment of workers, joint investment and development of the agricultural sector, especially since the climate of the two countries is similar, and both have an abundance of unexploited agricultural areas. Oman is a seaside country, which also allows exchanging experiences to develop fish wealth.”
In June Oman announced plans to open an embassy in Ramallah, which would make it the first Gulf state to do so. Some Palestinian officials supported the move, viewing it as an opportunity to strengthen relations between the two countries, while others believed it an Omani attempt to assuage Palestinians displeased with the sultanate's moves toward normalizing relations with Israel. A series of Palestinian-Israeli-Omani visits took place in October 2018, raising the possibility that growing political relations between the Omanis and the Palestinians might also be behind the Palestinian drive to strengthen economic relations with Oman.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Oman on Oct. 26, 2018, to discuss the peace process and met with Sultan Qaboos. Prior to that, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had visited Oman on Oct. 22 to meet with Qaboos and to discuss cooperation in various fields, and after Netanyahu's visit to Oman, Abbas met in Ramallah on Oct. 28 with an envoy of the sultan and on Oct. 31 with Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah. This cluster of visits prompted talk of Omani mediation between the Palestinians and Israel to resume peace negotiations stalled since mid-2014. The last official Israeli visit to Oman was Nov. 5, 2018, when Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz attended an international transportation conference and suggested building a railway linking Israel to the Arab Gulf.
