Israel normalise ties with UAE, Bahrain
WASHINGTON D.C.: Israel normalised relations with long-time foes Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates at the White House on Tuesday as President Donald Trump said similar United States-brokered deals were close between the Jewish state and several other nations, including Saudi Arabia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the foreign ministers of Bahrain and the UAE sealed the accords establishing full diplomatic ties with a ceremony on a flag-decorated White House South Lawn.
Hundreds of guests attended the event, which Trump is hoping will boost his reelection chances in November, but there were no handshakes to cement the historic agreements in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Bahrain and the UAE are the first Arab nations to establish relations with Israel since Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994, and Trump hailed it as a “historic day for peace”.
“After decades of division and conflict, we mark the dawn of a new Middle East.”
Trump said the agreements, which had been denounced as a “betrayal” by the Palestinians, “will serve as the foundation for a comprehensive peace across the entire region”.
Netanyahu said the day heralded “a new dawn of peace”.
"Ultimately it can end the ArabIsraeli conflict once and for all.
“To all of Israel’s friends in the
Middle East, I say as-salaam alaikum, peace unto thee, shalom.”
For the Middle East, the deals mark a distinct shift in a decadesold status quo where Arab countries have tried to maintain unity against Israel over its treatment of the stateless Palestinians.
Both the UAE and Bahrain foreign ministers made a point of mentioning the Palestinians in their remarks before the signing ceremony.
“Thank you for choosing peace and halting the annexation of Palestinian territories,” UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan told Netanyahu. “I stand here today to extend a hand of peace.”
Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani said a “just, comprehensive and enduring two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict” would be the “bedrock” for lasting Middle East peace.
Trump, speaking to Fox News ahead of the ceremony, said the agreements would put pressure on the Palestinians to also negotiate or face being “left out in the cold”.