Al-Houthi Criticizes Oman for Netanyahu Visit
YemenExtra
SH.A.
Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement has criticized the Sultanate of Oman for welcoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his unannounced visit to the Persian Gulf Arab country.
Mohammed Ali al-Houthi,Head of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee, made the remarks in a tweet on Saturday, adding that the real goal of the Israeli premier’s trip to Muscat “is to isolate Oman from playing any positive role in the future with its allies and friends.”
He added that Muscat should learn “a lesson” from the governments of those Muslim countries that “normalized ties with Israel but lost their nation” as the condemned relations with Tel Aviv created deep rifts between them and their people.
Netanyahu, along with a delegation, including Yossi Cohen, the director of the Mossad spy agency, and National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, arrived in Muscat on Thursday night and flew back to the occupied Palestinian territories later on Friday, making it the first such meeting in over 20 years.
A joint statement by Netanyahu and Oman’s ruler Sultan Qaboos said the two sides “discussed ways to advance” the so-called Middle East peace process and “a number of issues of mutual interest to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East.”
Muscat and Tel Aviv have no diplomatic relations, and the last Israeli leader to visit Oman was in 1996, when Shimon Peres was prime minister.
Earlier this week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also visited the Persian Gulf Arab state for three days.
Al-Houthi added that the people of Oman, who are known for their strong bonds to their fellow Arabs in other countries, including Palestine, are also “known for rejecting any normalization of ties” with the occupying regime of Israel.
Earlier on Saturday, Omani Foreign Minister Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah told a security summit in Bahrain’s capital Manama that Muscat was only offering ideas to help Israel and Palestinians to come together, but it would not act as a “mediator” between the two sides.
Despite apparently trying to sound impartial, Abdullah said Oman relied on the United States and efforts by US President Donald Trump in working towards the “deal of the century.”
This is while Abbas, who visited Oman before Netanyahu for three days, has renounced the plan, saying it has been devised without consulting the Palestinians. He also spurned any intermediary role by the US late last year after Washington recognized Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital.”