Zionist Camp leader Isaac Herzog kept the secret for a year. He did not reveal the existence of a summit held in Aqaba in February 2016. The summit was attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Jordanian King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The existence of this summit, designed to promote a regional peace initiative, was revealed Feb. 19 by Haaretz correspondent Barak Ravid. It turns out that this regional powwow was the basis for talks held between Herzog and Netanyahu about establishing a unity government with the Zionist Camp. Ultimately, the coalition negotiations did not bring about a national unity government. It also did not lead to a historic regional agreement.

At the time, Herzog did not detail his considerations for entering into negotiations with Netanyahu over joining the government, even though he saw how his party was plunging in public opinion polls. The Israeli public, together with most members of Herzog’s party (they did not know about the secret summit in Aqaba), did not believe that Herzog held marathon discussions with Netanyahu out of purely patriotic considerations.

Even Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is frequently called a peace rejectionist by the Israeli right, kept the existence of the summit a secret. According to Ravid’s article, it was Netanyahu who retreated from the regional peace initiative. Herzog claimed, in an interview with Channel 10, that Minister Yariv Levin convinced Netanyahu that such a deal by the prime minister would likely dismantle the Likud and create pockets of resistance to his regime.

According to a high-placed Palestinian source who spoke with Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, Abbas had been briefed about the summit before its existence and afterward as well. After the summit he received from Kerry, Abdullah and Sisi other explanations for its failure. According to the source, Abbas was expressly told that after the Aqaba summit, Netanyahu returned to Jerusalem where he did some soul-searching. Despite participating in the summit, Netanyahu remained unwilling to make the compromises needed for such a regional process. According to the source, Netanyahu reached the conclusion that including Egypt and Jordan in a complex process necessitating painful Israeli concessions might create a crisis in relations with these countries. It is not known if Netanyahu made this decision alone, or whether it was in consultation with close associates or advisers such as Levin.