Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of the Likud faction on Monday night that the ongoing claim that the Palestinian Authority is being “occupied” by Israel is pure bunk.
“Occupation is nonsense,” Netanyahu said, according to a report published in the Hebrew-language daily, Yediot Aharonot. “Empires have conquered and replaced entire populations and no one talks about it.” What truly matters, he said, is the diplomacy of power.
“Power is key. Power changes everything in our policy with Arab nations.
“Aligning [Arab] interests with those of Israel, based on Israel being a technological superpower, must lead the way,” he told Likud party colleagues.
Likud Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz is in Oman this week for a four-day visit to attend the World Congress of the International Road Transport Union hosted by Muscat.
Katz is also slated to present his “Tracks for Regional Peace” initiative, a plan to build a railway linking Israel with Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Arab nations in the Persian Gulf. The rail line would establish a trade route that would connect Europe with Israel and the Persian Gulf via Haifa.