Arab states cautious about ties with Israel

CAIRO－United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's recent Middle East trip hit a snag when his Arab hosts voiced caution on normalizing ties with Israel, following the United Arab Emirates' historic move, analysts said.

Pompeo recently wrapped up a five-day trip to the Middle East, which took him to Israel, Sudan, Bahrain, the UAE and Oman, hoping to push more Arab nations to follow suit after a landmark US-brokered normalization deal was reached between Israel and the UAE on Aug 13. Pompeo had hoped to counter Iran's increasing influence in the region and support US President Donald Trump's reelection campaign.

However, in Sudan, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok told the US top diplomat that the Sudanese transitional government had "no mandate to normalize ties with Israel".