Negev Summit

The Abraham Accords began in September 2020 with agreements normalizing Israel's relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain; Morocco later normalized relations with Israel, widening the emerging framework for Arab-Israeli engagement.[5][6] Egypt, which had made peace with Israel in 1979, participated alongside these newer normalization partners.[7]

By early 2022, the regional landscape had grown sharply more complicated. Russia's invasion of Ukraine was disrupting global food and energy markets — Egypt's reliance on Ukraine for the bulk of its wheat imports made food security an immediate concern for Cairo.[8] Iran's nuclear program remained a source of deep unease among Israel and the Gulf states, and negotiations over the 2015 nuclear agreement were again active, with the Biden administration seeking to restore it while Israel and several Arab partners opposed revival of that framework.[9] In advance of the summit, Ynet reported that Israel and the participating Arab states intended to convey their shared concerns about the emerging nuclear deal to Blinken, though a significant breakthrough was not expected.[10]

It was against this backdrop — a region reshaped by normalization but still navigating profound disagreements over Iran, the Palestinians, and the broader role of the United States — that Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid convened the gathering at Sde Boker. The venue itself carried deliberate symbolism: the kibbutz is closely associated with David Ben-Gurion, Israel's founding prime minister, whose strategy had centered on cultivating ties with non-Arab regional partners. The gathering of Arab foreign ministers on that same soil represented a striking contrast with the diplomatic world Ben-Gurion had navigated.[11]

The summit was held at the Kedma hotel at Kibbutz Sde Boker in southern Israel's Negev.[10] The six participants were Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, and Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.[12] Blinken was in Israel from March 26–28, 2022, while the summit itself took place on March 27–28.[12]

Of the Arab participants, the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco had normalized relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords; Egypt, which had made peace with Israel in 1979, rounded out the group as a long-established regional partner.[7] Jordan was invited but chose not to attend; the Palestinians were not invited.[1] It was the first gathering of Arab foreign ministers with the U.S. Secretary of State on Israeli soil.[13] The gathering signaled high-level commitment to the Accords and inaugurated a new multilateral framework.[5]

The summit was conducted over two days. On the first evening, the foreign ministers dined together near the grave of David Ben-Gurion at the kibbutz. In Lapid's later recollection, the ministers learned during dinner that two Israelis had been killed in an attack near Tel Aviv; the attack was the Hadera shooting that killed two Israeli Border Police officers.[4][14] Lapid recalled asking the assembled ministers to condemn the attack together, and he said the six participants issued a joint statement of condemnation before the summit continued.[4]

The summit's formal sessions on March 28 addressed a wide range of regional and global challenges. Discussion topics included regional security, Iran and its proxies, the implications of the war in Ukraine for food and energy markets, and the prospects for broader economic cooperation.[8] Israeli Ambassador to Bahrain Eitan Na'eh characterized the gathering as a forum for tackling regional problems and developing shared solutions rather than limiting talks to bilateral relations, and he described the Arab foreign ministers' agreement to convene at Sde Boker on relatively short notice as itself diplomatically significant.[8]

Iran was a dominant theme. In his official remarks, Lapid described the participants' goal as building "a new regional architecture" grounded in progress, technology, religious tolerance, security, and intelligence cooperation, and said that shared capabilities would serve to deter Iran and its proxies.[15] Hebrew-language media reportedly characterized the gathering as "the summit against Iran."[7] At the same time, the Gulf participants were wary of being publicly identified with a framework explicitly directed at Tehran, which they were reluctant to antagonize. UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash described the UAE's participation as reflecting a belief in a regional approach that deepens economic cooperation and bridges gaps through tolerance and communication.[7]

On the Iran nuclear negotiations, reporting before the summit said Israel and the participating Arab states intended to convey their concerns about the emerging agreement to Blinken, while a significant breakthrough was not expected.[10] INSS described differing regional emphases and a policy disagreement with the Biden administration's effort to restore the agreement.[1] The summit did not resolve that disagreement.

Beyond security, the summit addressed practical civilian cooperation. Ideas raised included a possible pipeline route to carry Gulf, Egyptian, and Israeli gas through Turkey to Europe, and the development of solar-energy fields in Sinai.[16] Russia's invasion of Ukraine gave urgency to energy and food discussions: Egypt's wheat-supply vulnerability was cited as a concrete example of why regional food security required multilateral attention.[8]

After the formal sessions, the ministers held a joint press conference. Lapid announced that the participants had decided to make the summit a permanent forum, open to peoples across the region, including the Palestinians. The meeting subsequently developed into the Negev Forum.[15][2] Blinken stated that the Abraham Accords were not a substitute for Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, and Egyptian and Moroccan ministers similarly voiced support for a two-state outcome, though the Israeli-Palestinian issue was not a central focus of the internal summit discussions.[7]

The one formal agreement signed at the summit was an Israel-Bahrain roadmap to deepen bilateral relations over the following nine years, focused mainly on economic ties while also addressing security and food technology.[8][17] Lapid and Bahraini Foreign Minister Al-Zayani signed it at the conclusion of the proceedings.[18] The summit also discussed possible defense cooperation, including reported interest from the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco in Israeli air-defense systems such as Iron Dome, Green Pine radar, and Arrow, as well as possible intelligence-sharing mechanisms for detecting and intercepting drones and missiles — though these were reported discussions of possible measures rather than finalized agreements.[16][5]

The summit's first evening was interrupted by news of a terrorist attack in Hadera, in which two Israeli Border Police officers were killed.[14] ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred days before Ramadan began.[14] In his official closing remarks, Lapid said the participants had been informed of the attack during their dinner and that the attackers' aim was to intimidate the assembled ministers and obstruct the relationships they were building. He told the gathered diplomats: "The terrorists' goal is to intimidate us. To make us afraid to meet and build the relationships and agreements between us. They will not succeed. We will not let them."[19]

All six participants condemned the attack and expressed condolences to the victims' families.[18] The foreign ministers of Bahrain and Morocco specifically condemned the attack in their public remarks.[7] The joint condemnation was itself notable: six governments — including four Arab states — spoke with a single voice against terrorism on Israeli soil. Lapid presented their continued cooperation as a response to terrorism.[15]

The summit's most consequential institutional outcome was the creation of the Negev Forum, a standing multilateral framework built around six thematic working groups: regional security and counterterrorism, clean energy, education and coexistence, food and water security, health, and tourism.[3] Lapid announced at the closing press conference that the summit would be made permanent, with future meetings rotating among participating countries and — in a detail that became something of a tradition — held in desert settings.[17]

The forum's inaugural Steering Committee meeting was held in Manama, Bahrain, in June 2022, attended by the director generals of the foreign ministries of Israel, Bahrain, the UAE, Egypt, and Morocco, together with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Yael Lempert.[13] Participants discussed the forum's foundational document, the mandates of its working groups, and the possibility of future expansion. Iran was notably not on the agenda at this meeting; the Palestinian issue arose in discussion of the working groups' scope. Jordan was to be invited to a subsequent meeting.[13] The Negev Forum's framework was formally adopted by the steering committee on November 10, 2022.[5]

In January 2023, the forum held its third steering-committee meeting in Abu Dhabi, which also convened all six working groups for the first time. More than 150 officials and experts from the six member countries gathered to discuss 20 proposed projects across the forum's thematic areas.[20] Jordan had again been invited but did not attend; Palestinians were again not invited to that meeting.[20] The framework's formal scope also aimed to create momentum in Israeli-Palestinian relations, though practical progress on that dimension remained limited.[5]

In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Lapid — by then serving as prime minister — described the Negev Summit as a moment when agreements were signed and working groups formed covering technology, food security, energy, water, education, and infrastructure.[4] The SAPIR Journal describes the forum as "a significant achievement for Israel's integration in the Middle East," an initiative launched during the partnership of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Lapid.[21]

The Negev Summit demonstrated high-level commitment to the Abraham Accords and moved normalization into active multilateral diplomacy.[5] The participation of four Arab foreign ministers in a summit convened by Israel — on Israeli soil, at a kibbutz associated with the country's founding prime minister — represented a major change in regional dynamics.[11] Lapid himself called the gathering at Sde Boker a dinner "that only two years ago no one would have believed was possible."[4]

The Washington Institute's contemporaneous analysis captured the historical resonance of the setting. David Ben-Gurion, working from Sde Boker, had built Israel's early diplomacy on ties with non-Arab regional partners — a strategic necessity in a period when Arab recognition was unthinkable. The arrival of Arab foreign ministers at that same location was presented as evidence of Israel's increased regional centrality, even as the analysis noted that the Arab participants did not regard Israel as a substitute for the United States.[11] INSS characterized the summit's underlying aim as creating a basis for the participants to navigate regional and global changes together, identifying cooperation on Iran, coordination amid great-power competition, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and support for expanding the Abraham Accords as central themes.[1]

Participants carried different priorities into the room. Former U.S. Ambassador Dan Shapiro observed that clean-energy investment was a priority for the UAE, maritime security for Bahrain, education and agriculture for Morocco, and a broad range of issues for Egypt.[7] This diversity of interests was simultaneously the forum's strength — a wide coalition united around practical cooperation — and a source of tension, particularly on the question of how explicitly to frame the grouping's posture toward Iran.

INSS noted that the Palestinians were excluded from the gathering and interpreted the summit as reflecting the reduced centrality of the Palestinian question in regional diplomacy; this was the institute's analysis rather than a neutral finding.[1] Palestinian leaders opposed normalization that proceeded without resolution of their national demands, and the Palestinian Authority did not join the Negev Forum. Jordan stayed outside the forum and reportedly conditioned participation on Palestinian Authority inclusion.[5]

Several aspects of the Negev Summit generated politically contested readings. The exclusion of Palestinians from the summit and from the subsequent Negev Forum was among the most sensitive. INSS and the Congressional Research Service both document that the Palestinians were not invited, while the Palestinian Authority's position — that normalization should not outpace resolution of Palestinian national demands — represented a fundamental challenge to the forum's legitimacy in Palestinian eyes.[1][5] Jordan's conditional non-participation further underscored how Palestinian political standing shaped the regional alignment around the forum.

The summit's Iran agenda produced different public and private framings. Israel and the Arab participants arrived with shared anxiety about Iran's nuclear program, but the Gulf states were reluctant to be publicly associated with an anti-Iran coalition for fear of provoking Tehran. Israeli media's characterization of the gathering as "the summit against Iran" contrasted sharply with UAE presidential adviser Gargash's emphasis on economic cooperation and tolerance.[7] The Biden administration's simultaneous pursuit of a restored Iran nuclear deal exposed a policy disagreement with Israel and several Arab partners that the summit acknowledged but did not resolve.[1]

Reported discussions of defense cooperation — including possible intelligence sharing on drone and missile threats, and Arab interest in Israeli air-defense systems such as Iron Dome and Arrow — should be understood as exploratory conversations rather than concluded agreements.[5][16] Similarly, Lapid's account of a joint statement condemning the Hadera terrorist attack during the summit dinner, while consistent with public reports of a collective condemnation, is drawn primarily from his later recollection rather than from an independent transcript of the dinner.[4]

The summit's relationship to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was also framed inconsistently by participants themselves. Lapid's declaration that the forum would be open to Palestinians stood in some tension with the January 2023 Abu Dhabi meeting, where Palestinians were again not invited in practice.[20] Blinken and the Arab ministers publicly called for two-state negotiations, but these statements were made at a summit that the Palestinian Authority had no part in shaping.[7]