Israeli, US Diplomats Discuss Negev Forum In Washington

Director of Policy Planning Department at the UAE Foreign Ministry Abdulrahman Ali Alneyadi, US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Yael Lempert, Director-general at Israels Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alon Ushpiz, Undersecretary for international affairs at the Bahrain Foreign Ministry Sheikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Director-general of political affairs at Morocco's foreign ministry Ambassador Fouad Yazourh, and Deputy-assistant Foreign Minister for Egypt Ministers Office Affairs Mohamed Tharwat hold a joint press conference for the Negev Forum first Steering Committee meeting in the town of Zallaq, south of the Bahraini capital Manama on June 27, 2022. Photo by Mazen Mahdi/Getty Images

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met in Washington on Wednesday with Ronen Levi, the director-general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry. During the meeting, which was closed to the press, the two diplomats discussed “a range of global issues, including opportunities to advance regional integration through the Negev Forum, recent developments in Sudan and Russia’s aggression in Ukraine,” according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. 

The Negev Forum was founded at the Negev Summit in Kibbutz Sde Boker on March 2022 as part of the implementation process of the Abraham Accords. Six working groups were established, to serve as a framework for increasing regional diplomatic and economic cooperation. However, Israeli media reported on Monday that the United States has conveyed to Jerusalem a request by the other forum participants to change its name to something “less Israeli.”