Omani FM voices hope Israel's new leaders will advance Palestinian state

Oman is hopeful that the new government in Israel will take “concrete steps” toward establishing an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, the Omani foreign minister told his new Israeli counterpart on Thursday. 

Oman’s chief diplomat, Badr al-Busaidi, spoke on the phone with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, according to the Omani state news agency. Lapid also serves as Israel’s alternate prime minister in the government that unseated former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month. 

Despite the inclusion of an Arab party, the fragile coalition government is not expected to advance an agreement with the Palestinians. Ultraconservative Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a former settler leader, is steadfastly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state and his right-wing Yamina party backs expanding the Jewish settlements in the West Bank that much of the international community says threaten prospects for a political solution.  

Oman remains a strong supporter of a two-state solution and despite being floated as a possible candidate, has not signed onto the Abraham Accords normalizing relations between Israel and Muslim-majority countries. Palestinians described the US-brokered deals as a betrayal by longtime Arab allies.