By James M. Dorsey

US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is jumping through hoops on his 11th Middle East tour in the past year.

As he attempts to revive the stalled Gaza ceasefire talks and secure agreement on post-war arrangements in the Strip, Mr. Blinken is discovering that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu may not be the only party pooper.

So is Mahmoud Abbas, the internationally recognised, West Bank-based Palestinian president.

Mr. Blinken is touting a United Arab Emirates proposal for the administration of Gaza once a ceasefire has been achieved. The proposal was crafted with input from Israel but not the Palestinians.

That’s where the rub starts.

Please read further, listen to the podcast, or watch the video at https://jamesmdorsey.substack.com/p/blinken-touts-problematic-uae-plan

By James M. Dorsey

is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies as Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, co-director of the Institute of Fan Culture of the University of Würzburg and the author of the blog, The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer, and a forthcoming book with the same title.