Despite the hostility towards Israel by the far left, the far right, Iran and Islamist fractions, in reality Israel has been developing informal cordial relationships with many Arab states. Israel does have full formal diplomatic relations with Egypt and Jordan, albeit these relationships do not permeate down into Arab society (unfortunately decades of demonising Israel and Jews via education and state propaganda cannot be undone overnight) . What is less well know is that Israel is also developing relationships with various Gulf states .
As this picture shows :
The person in the centre of the picture is of (retired) Brigadier- General Miriam 'Miri' Regev, Israel's culture/sports Minister, who is of Sephardi-Mizrahi heritage . Regev is seen by the Ashkenazi dominated Israeli left as a 'stereotypical Mizrahi woman' because of her outspoken, forthright, folksy and flag waving personality. In this picture she is dressed similarly to Hannah's grandmother when they lived in Iraq. Regev is off visiting the UAE and in this picture the world's third largest mosque. Regev, who is both right wing, but also supportive of Israel's Gays and Lesbians, also watched Israel win a gold in the Judo championship, complete with national anthem being played, which brought her to tears.
This may sound ridiculous, but in the past Arab countries have either tried to stop Israel from competing in international tournaments on their soil or forbid the usage of the Israeli national anthem and flag. So in the context of 70 years of hostility to the world's only Jewish state, this is somewhat of a breakthrough for Israel. It also goes to show that on the ground Israel's more pragmatic neighbours are willing enough to see that Israel isn't going anywhere and is worth engaging with. Something which the British left don't quite grasp yet.
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