Gulf States Need to Solve Own Problems, Says Prominent U.S. Rabbi

The Jerusalem Post
By Herb Keinon

The “ultimate deal” between Israel and the Palestinians will never come to fruition unless the US first makes peace between the six Persian Gulf states.

President Donald Trump’s dream of brokering the “ultimate deal” between Israel and the Palestinians will never come to fruition unless the US first makes peace between the six Persian Gulf states, a high-profile US rabbi said this week.

Marc Schneier, the rabbi of the tony Hampton Synagogue in New York, is in Israel after spending a week in Qatar and Bahrain, where he met the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and spoke with Bahrain’s King Hamad.

Qatar and Bahrain are on different sides of the divide in the Gulf, which Schneier said roughly splits the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) into two camps: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on one side of the divide, and Qatar, Kuwait and Oman on the other.

“There is a serious conflict in the Gulf, in terms of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the Emirates against Qatar,” said Schneier, a prominent figure in the US promoting Jewish-Islamic ties as head of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding.

“I firmly believe that Israel is sitting on an extraordinary opportunity to actually realize peace with the Gulf states, but I don’t believe there will be regional peace with the Gulf until the internal conflict among these countries is resolved,” he said.

Schneier, who is expecting to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before he returns home next week, said his message to the prime minister will be to use his influence with the US administration to encourage more active involvement in brokering a resolution to the conflict splitting the Gulf countries.

“This conflict is a priority in the Gulf today,” Schneier said, reflecting what he heard in the Gulf. Following almost a week in Qatar and Bahrain, he visited Azerbaijan – another Muslim country – and met with President Ilham Aliyev.

Schneier, who is expecting to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before he returns home next week, said his message to the prime minister will be to use his influence with the US administration to encourage more active involvement in brokering a resolution to the conflict splitting the Gulf countries.

“This conflict is a priority in the Gulf today,” Schneier said, reflecting what he heard in the Gulf. Following almost a week in Qatar and Bahrain, he visited Azerbaijan – another Muslim country – and met with President Ilham Aliyev.

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