In a statement to Hespress electronic newspaper, Emirati strategic expert Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi said that for the future of the region extending from the Maghreb to the Gulf, “its countries, especially Morocco, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, must pay attention to the danger of Zionism, which exceeds what is imagined in reality.”

This came in response to Hespress questions about issues including a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by an international arrest warrant from the “International Criminal Court,” in an interview with Israeli channel “i24,” after the interviewer showed him a map of what is called in Zionist ideology the “Promised Land” and asked if he shared this “vision,” to which he replied “definitely” twice, and the interviewer commented: “This is Greater Israel.”

Al-Suwaidi, who managed the “Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research” for two decades and received the “Sheikh Zayed Book Award,” confirmed that “the talk of Greater Israel is very dangerous; because this includes a large part of the Arab Republic of Egypt, a large part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and a large part of many Arab countries,” adding that this vision is a “big mistake.”

Regarding the possible Arab role in confronting such a vision, Al-Suwaidi told Hespress that “Israel exists as long as the United States supports it, so it is necessary to convince the United States that the way things are conducted in Israel is not correct, and that the method of attacking Gaza, Qatar, Beirut, and Syria is not right and is incorrect.”

He added: “Israel uses American weapons, and President Donald Trump says he wants peace in the Middle East, while at the same time Israel is given six billion dollars worth of weapons, so how can that be?”

Regarding his relationship with the late Mohamed Ben Issa, founder of the “Asilah Cultural Festival,” one of the most prominent and longest-running cultural festivals in the region for nearly half a century, Al-Suwaidi said the late “was an exceptional person (…) who did not fall short and turned Asilah into a global area.”

Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi spoke about the “excellent relations” between Morocco and the UAE, saying: “I do not think there is a closer relationship than the one between them (…) and the reason is simple and many do not pay attention to it, which is that His Majesty the King and the President of the UAE studied together at school during the days of King Hassan II and Sheikh Zayed.”