President Herzog calls for greater dialogue with Israel's neighbors

• Author: LAHAV HARKOV
• Published date: 13 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The Abraham Accords, the peace and normalization agreements signed between Israel and three Arab countries starting a year ago, were "a remarkable breakthrough in the history of our region," he said.

"[It was] a brave, noble choice by Arab nations, with the fine mediation of the United States, to cast aside a failed policy of exclusion, lack of dialogue and lack of tolerance, and instead embrace a future based on inclusion with an Israel that has always outstretched its hand in peace," Herzog said.

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He expressed hope that many more Middle Eastern nations will "emulate this path of dialogue and tolerance."

Herzog said he was proud to have received the credentials of the first Bahraini ambassador to Israel and inaugurate the Emirati Embassy in Tel Aviv during his first weeks in office this summer, as well as to have visited King Abdullah of Jordan in Amman and spoken with presidents Abdul Fatah al-Sisi of Egypt, Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority.

"I am committed to fostering such dialogue and open lines of communication with world leaders on behalf of the nation of Israel," he said. "I believe it is part of our duty to have a dialogue with anyone in the region who wishes or wants to have a dialogue with us."

Speaking at the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem, Herzog made tolerance and dialogue the central themes of his speech, saying intolerance and lack of respectful communication have led to a crisis of liberal democracy within countries and a crisis of the liberal democratic world order.

"Tolerance must be a foundation of our society and will be a focal point of my term as president of Israel within Israeli society," he said. "Without it, we must understand, the breakdown of dialogue is a threat, both internal and external, because it jeopardizes the institutions of liberal democracy and the mechanisms...