The gathering of top diplomats from Israel, the U.A.E., Bahrain and Morocco, as well as Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, is a sign of how quickly Middle Eastern alliances are shifting.
Strongly denied by Israel and its supporters, the claim is the first time that a U.N.-appointed rapporteur has accused Israel of apartheid in such an unequivocal way.
The Eastern European countries had sought to buy Pegasus, spyware made by an Israeli firm, to carry out intelligence operations against Russia, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.
All three countries are navigating fraught relationships with the Biden administration amid the quickly changing geopolitical landscape precipitated by Russia’s war on Ukraine.