US, ME allies show unity in Israel

"A new round of negotiations is ahead, because we are looking for peace. Really. Without delay. As I was informed, there is an opportunity and a need for a face-to-face meeting already in Turkey."

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a show of unity with Middle East allies at a rare Israeli-hosted summit yesterday, hoping to allay their misgivings about an emerging Iranian nuclear deal and Washington's commitment to the region.

The two-day desert retreat was further clouded by US-Russia tensions over Ukraine, an Islamic State-linked attack in Israel and health worries as Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was diagnosed with Covid-19 after meeting Blinken.

The foreign ministers of United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, which normalised ties with Israel in a 2020 US diplomatic drive, attended the summit in Sde Boker - where the founding Israeli prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, is buried.

Also there was the foreign minister of Egypt, which in 1979 became the first Arab country to make peace with Israel.

"The (region's) moderates are convening to talk and to form a front against the extremists," Gil Haskel, an official with Israel's Foreign Ministry, told public broadcaster Kan, referring to Iran's hardline Islamist rulers.

"There are nuances, different perspectives being discussed or argued about, there is some agreement about some issues and less so about others - but there's no doubt in this room around the table that Iran must not be nuclear," Haskel added.