Days after leaving office, former foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi tells Channel 12 news that he spoke with his counterparts in most countries in the Middle East — including those Israel doesn’t have ties with — during his year-long tenure as the Jewish state’s top diplomat.
He refuses to detail which countries these were.
He also says the Abraham Accords with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco “aren’t an alternative to the strategic agreements with Egypt and Jordan.”
Ashkenazi, who did not run again with the Blue and White party in the March elections, also comments on politics and the formation of a new government this week that saw Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu replaced as premier by Naftali Bennett after 12 consecutive years as prime minister.
“I think that Netanyahu is sorry he didn’t fulfill the [rotation] deal,” he says, referring to the agreement to switch off the premiership with Gantz.
Outgoing foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi speaks at a ceremony welcoming his replacement, Yair Lapid, at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem on June 14, 2021. (Flash90)
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