Oman’s deputy envoy to US: ‘Dangerous confusion’ between Judaism and Zionism fuels antisemitism

WASHINGTON — In remarks at Oman’s National Day celebration in Washington, Muscat’s deputy ambassador to the US warns against conflating between Zionism and Judaism.

“We must also be mindful of the dangerous confusion between Judaism as a religion and Zionism as a political ideology. This confusion actually fuels antisemitism and undermines efforts for peaceful resolutions to the conflict,” says Sabra Ahmed Al-Hooti.

Successive polling shows, however, that a substantial majority of Jews view Israel as a central part of their Jewish identity.

Oman’s then-sultan hosted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018 and Muscat has been floated as a potential candidate to join the Abraham Accords. But in 2022 its lower house of parliament voted to expand its Israel boycott law. Still, it opened its airspace to Israeli flights last year.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, Muscat has joined other countries in the region in doubling down in their stance against normalizing relations with Israel before a Palestinian state is established.

The Israel-Palestinian conflict is the first issue mentioned in Al-Hooti’s brief remarks welcoming guests. She reiterates Oman’s call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for the establishment of a Palestinian state before highlighting the past year’s achievements for Muscat domestically and in its relations with the US.