Abe’s Middle East trip made to support US

May 3, 2018

Jerusalem- The latest Middle East visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was apparently made to show indirect support for US diplomatic efforts toward regional peace.

During the trip, Abe visited both Israel and the Palestinians. In Tuesday's talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, he urged the Palestinians to return to peace talks with Israel.

Abe also stressed the need to respond to any US proposal, emphasizing the importance of the US role in the Middle East peace process.

Some observers had suggested that a Middle East visit means Abe would be putting his political career at risk amid heightening tensions ahead of the relocation of the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

"Abe is thinking about nothing but North Korea and he does everything that US President Donald Trump likes," a source close to the prime minister said, indicating he needed to show indirect support for Washington by serving as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians at a time when the situation surrounding North Korea is changing at a rapid pace.

Trump is expected to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in early June or earlier following Friday's inter-Korean summit.

During his meeting with the Palestinian leader, Abe failed to get a pledge from him to return to the peace table due to the Palestinians' strong distrust of the Trump administration.

Abe's Middle East trip thus highlighted the limits of Japan's role in the regional peace process as the country is distant both geographically and geopolitically.

A source accompanying the trip said, however, that many countries could not achieve visits by their leaders to both Israel and the Palestinians.

But Japan realized such visits because of its continued assistance from a neutral position, the source said, insisting that the realization of talks with the Palestinian leader itself was an achievement. Jiji Press