Israeli president greets Erdogan, Arab leaders on Eid amid controversial normalisation

Israeli President Isaac Herzog greeted the leaders of several Arab countries and Turkey for the start of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Herzog on Monday evening spoke with Jordan's King Abdullah and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to greet them for Eid, his office said.

He told Erdogan that the two leaders "must keep working in cooperation with each other for the benefit of both nations."

Turkey and Israel have in recent weeks been working to mend long-strained ties, and energy has emerged as a potential area of cooperation.

On Sunday, he spoke with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to mark their celebrations.

Meanwhile, in the first phone conversation since March when Israeli violence against Palestinians escalated, Herzog called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to greet him for the holy holiday.

His office said they discussed "peace and stability in the region" without elaborating on the content of the conversation.

Israel established diplomatic relations with the UAE through the controversial Abraham Records brokered by former US president Donald Trump in 2020. Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan soon followed suit.

On Sunday, former Moroccan prime minister and head of the Islamist party justice and development (PJD) said normalising ties with Israel was a mistake during a speech.

The populist leader Abdelilah Benkirane took the stage at Rabat's workers' day celebrations, in his first major public gathering after five years of "political silence."

Hanging a Keffiyeh on his neck, Benkirane devoted a significant part of his speech to the Moroccan-Israeli relations. 

"We did make mistakes during our years in power. We admit it and we take it back. Yes, normalisation was a mistake," the Islamist leader addressed a crowd of hundreds of workers and reporters in his first open condemnation of the normalisation.

Around 1,000 Israelis have relocated to the emirate of Dubai since the normalisation accords were signed, Israeli media reported in January 2022, bringing the number of Jewish people living there to up to 4,000.

All factions of the Palestinian leadership have condemned Israel-UAE ties, describing them as "a stab in the back" and a sacrifice of the Palestinian cause for financial gain.