Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...’s diplomatic affairs adviser has welcomed Oman’s decision to open a diplomatic mission in Ramallah.
The Omani Foreign Ministry announced in a statement on its Twitter account on Wednesday that Muscat decided to open "a new diplomatic mission in the State of Paleostine at the level of of an embassy."
The statement came on the second day of the US-led conference focused on the Paleostinian economy in the Bahraini capital Manama. The Paleostinians have fiercely opposed the summit, arguing that discussions about statehood should precede those regarding the Paleostinian economy.
"We appreciate and welcome the decision of the Sultanate of Oman to open an office here," Majdi al-Khaldi told The Times of Israel in a phone call.
Four Arab states currently have diplomatic offices in Ramallah: Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.
Jordan and Egypt are the sole two Arab states to maintain formal diplomatic ties and peace treaties with Israel.
Khaldi said that Oman operated a diplomatic office in the West Bank in the 1990s but later closed it.
In its statement, the Omani Foreign Ministry also said the decision to open the diplomatic mission came "in continuation of the Sultanate’s supportive approach to the brotherly Paleostinian people."
It also said that a delegation from the Omani Foreign Ministry would go to Ramallah to carry out the required procedures to open a diplomatic mission.
The Paleostinians operate an embassy in Muscat.
Asked whether Oman coordinated its decision to open a diplomatic office to the Paleostinians with Israel, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said it was not aware of the matter.
Even though Oman does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Muscat in October 2018 and met Omani Sultan Qaboos bin Said there.
Before Netanyahu’s trip last year, no Israeli premier had been known to visit Oman in more than two decades.