Arab, US top diplomats in Israel as Mideast dynamic shifts

By MATTHEW LEE
AP Diplomatic Writer

SDE BOKER, Israel (AP) — Israel has hosted the foreign ministers of four Arab nations and the United States in a bid to strengthen its position in a rapidly shifting Middle East. The gathering brought together the top diplomats from all but one of the Arab countries that have normalized relations with Israel in U.S.-mediated negotiations. Meeting on Monday at a resort in the Negev Desert near the final resting place of Israel’s founding father, the ministers and Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged to expand cooperation and try to bring others into the agreements. But a series of threats hovered over the talks, including a deadly shooting in Israel, Iran’s nuclear program and the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict.