Questions on Palestine, Food Insecurity Highlight First Arab League Meeting
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrives at the Arab League’s summit’s closing ceremony on Tuesday. Photo: Fethi Belaid / AFP
The Arab League held its first summit in three years in Algeria, on Nov. 2, where economic concerns sparked by the war in Ukraine, and tensions between Israel and Palestine remained at the heart of discussions.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in crippling food shortages in most Arab countries, causing an estimated 141 million people to be exposed to food insecurity, according to a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) statement. The summit also emphasized the Palestinian issue, and a joint concluding statement reiterated the League’s support for Palestinian self-determination.
In recent years, Arab leaders have become increasingly divided over a number of key issues. Several leaders did not attend the summit, highlighting the growing disconnect.
Algeria has led efforts to bring Syria back into the League after its suspension in 2011 over a brutal crackdown on Arab Spring protests. Saudi Arabia and Egypt oppose Syria’s reinstatement, and both have blamed Bashar al-Assad’s regime for failing to resolve its intractable civil war and economic crisis. Two more leaders were absent from the conference: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and King Mohammed VI of Morocco.
Arab countries have been severely impacted by the crisis in Ukraine as well, which has aggravated food and fertilizer shortages in the region, resources that are overwhelmingly supplied by Ukrainian and Russian exporters.
Lebanon’s economy has been especially susceptible to shortages, with Ukraine supplying 80 percent of grain as of 2020. The same is true for Yemen, which received 40 percent of its wheat from Ukraine prior to the Russian invasion.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attended as an observer, stating that “We must do all we can to ensure the continued success of the Black Sea Grain Initiative to provide relief to those in need.”
Leaders discussed the rise of conflict around the region and agreed to take steps to resolve the violence in Syria and Libya. The ability of the Arab League to form a unified front in addressing civil conflict in the region may be difficult, however, as several countries are divided over how foreign powers play a role in this issue. States like Egypt are strongly opposed to any foreign intervention or influence, whereas others like Syria have been less hesitant to adhere to Cold War parallels. Assad’s regime in Syria has alligned itself with Russia, and even Algeria intends to engage in joint anti-terrorism exercises with Russia, known as Desert Shield 2022.
Members of Former Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's Likud party celebrate at the party’s headquarters after exit polls were released. Photo: Ammar Awad / Reuters
Members of Former Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's Likud party celebrate at the party’s headquarters after exit polls were released. Photo: Ammar Awad / Reuters
Another point of contention is the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020, a series of unprecedented normalization agreements between several Arab countries and Israel. Many League members still reject cooperation, citing Israel’s continued incursions into Palestinian territory and its active efforts to derail a two-state solution.
The accords were not mentioned in the League’s final statement, but Palestinian self-determination was certainly one of the major concerns of the summit, which reiterated unanimous support for an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority urged his fellow Arab leaders to implement prior agreements regarding financial support to the territories, according to official statements from the PA. Palestinians have historically criticized the Arab League’s tendency to provide words but not actions for the Palestinian cause.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune stated at the summit, “Our main and first cause, the mother of all causes, the Palestinian issue, will be at the heart of our concerns and our main priority.” Algeria has been one of the most unwavering supporters of Palestine, even facilitating negotiations between the opposing Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, in October.
Nevertheless, Abbas’ speech indicated that Palestinians want to avoid what some have described as “Arab fatigue” with the Palestinian cause.
Abbas underlined the importance of success at the Al-Quds Conference set for early next year, and called on Arab states to “Expose practices of the Israeli occupation authorities, to explain our Arab narrative, because our narrative is completely absent in the West where the Zionist narrative prevails.” In a discussion with a US State Department official present at the summit, Abbas articulated the need for US action against Israeli war crimes as well as negotiations towards a resolution in line with UN resolutions and international law.
Bridging the growing ideological gaps between member states may be further threatened by developments in the current Israeli elections. In its fifth election since 2019, Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won a majority in the Israeli Knesset in an overhaul of the previous governing left-wing bloc.
Palestinian officials have dreaded Netanyahu’s comeback as he is aligned with an ultranationalist bloc led by Itamar Ben-Gvir, an Israeli politician previously convicted of incitement to racism. According to a senior PA official, “These election results show how Israeli society is sliding toward a new kind of religious extremism and fascism, which will not produce a partner for peace with the Palestinians.”