Jun. 16, 2016

• Top Israeli Diplomat: Palestinian Conflict “Close to Bottom” of Sunni Arab Agenda – Raphael Ahren
  The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is “pretty close to the bottom” of the agendas of both Israelis and the Arab world, Israel Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold told the annual Herzliya Conference on Wednesday. According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “strategy,” an Israeli rapprochement with Sunni Arab states will take place before a peace agreement with the Palestinians can be reached.
  Critics often admonish the Israeli government for the frozen peace process, Gold noted, saying that this was not necessarily the case in reality. “Under the ice there is a lot of hot water moving, and we hope that we will be able to use the new relations in the Arab world, combined with our new relations in Asia and Africa, to build a better situation for our relations between us and our Palestinian neighbors.”  (Times of Israel)