Oman says it supports UAE-Israel normalization of ties

Today, Oman remains a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, and in a first for a Gulf Arab state, announced plans to open an embassy in the West Bank city of Ramallah last year. But the new US-brokered agreement, seen among Palestinians as a betrayal by the UAE, earned Omani praise amid growing talk that the Gulf state will be among the next to normalize ties with Israel. 

During his announcement Thursday, Trump said the “ice has been broken,” allowing other countries in the region to follow the UAEs’ lead in normalizing relations with Israel. Israeli officials have told the Israeli press that they are in talks with Oman as well as Bahrain about similar agreements.

“Things are happening that I can’t talk about, but they’re extremely positive,” Trump said Thursday. 

Signs the countries are growing closer include Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s October 2018 surprise trip to Muscat to meet with the late Sultan Qaboos Bin Said in what Israel framed as “deepening relations with the states of the region.” Not since 1996 had an Israeli premier visited the sultanate. 

Shortly after Netanyahu’s landmark visit, Israel’s flagship carrier, El Al, was granted permission to fly into Omani airspace. Asked about the potential for formal ties with Israel, bin Alawi told Al-Monitor in September 2019 that “everything is on the table.”