PARIS: Israel yesterday offered to help moderate Arab nations threatened by a lightning offensive by Islamic militants in Iraq, as the country’s top diplomat met US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Kerry at a meeting in Paris that “the extremists currently operating in Iraq will try to challenge the stability in the entire Gulf region, first of all in Kuwait,” a statement from his office said.
“Israel could provide effective and reliable assistance to moderate Arab states who are dealing with extremists,” it added, without going into specific details.
Just a few days after visiting Iraq, Kerry said it was “important that countries in the region stand together against the threat,” according to a senior US official.
Lieberman said Israeli interests were converging with moderate Arab nations “with both sides dealing with the threat of Iran, world jihad and Al Qaeda, as well as the spillover of conflicts in Syria and in Iraq to neighbouring countries.”
“Today, there is a basis for the creation of a new diplomatic-political structure in the Middle East,” his office said in the statement.
AFP
