Negev steering summit aims for closer US-Israel-Arab ties

Second Negev meeting sees US, Israel, Arab allies form working groups on key issues: Officials from Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, the UAE and the US agreed to form working groups for closer ties on clean energy, education, food and water security, health, regional security, and tourism at a steering meeting of the recently formed Negev forum in Manama yesterday, a joint statementreleased by the State Department read. The statement made no mention of the Iranian nuclear threat, which Israeli officials had suggested ahead of the meeting would be on the table.