Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Thursday praised the Israel-United Arab Emirates peace treaty announced by President Trump, but credits efforts by the Obama-Biden administration for the ‘historic step’.
Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and United Arab Emirates’ Deputy Commander-in-Chief Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed issued a joint statement on Thursday, after Israel and the UAE agreed to normalize relations.
TRUMP ANNOUNCEMENTS ‘HISTORICAL PEACE AGREEMENT’ BETWEEN ISRAEL, UAE
The statement said that the “diplomatic breakthrough” was at “President Trump’s request”, and that Israel “will cease to declare sovereignty over areas described in the President’s Vision for Peace and its efforts now focus on expanding. ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world. “
The former vice president praised the move as “a historic step to bridge the deep divides of the Middle East”, and called on the UAE’s offer to “publicly recognize the state of Israel”, brave and little-needed statesmanship. “
“It is a critical recognition that Israel is a vibrant, integral part of the Middle East that is here to stay,” Biden said. “Israel can and will be a valued strategic and economic partner for all who welcome it.”
However, Biden said that “the unification of Israel and Arab states builds on the efforts of multiple administrations to promote a broader Arab-Israeli opening, including the efforts of the Obama-Biden administration to build on the Arab Peace Initiative. . “
“I have personally spent time with leaders of both Israel and the UAE during our administration to build the cause for cooperation and broader engagement and the benefits it could bring to both nations, and I am gratified by today’s announcement, “Biden said in a statement Thursday. “It is a timely reminder that enemies and differences – even long-standing ones – are not set in stone, and of the role that American diplomacy can play.”
He added: “There is always room for cooperation and collaboration on areas of mutual interest, and the Emirates and Israel both share a strong interest in maintaining the prospects for peace in the region.”
Biden went on to say that “annexation would be a blow to the cause of peace, that is why I would oppose it now and move it as president,” and “would end almost any chance of a two-state solution. which would secure the future of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state and preserve Palestinians’ right to a state of their own. “
Biden added: “By preventing this opportunity and replacing it with the hope of greater connection and integration in the region, the United Arab Emirates and Israel have paved the way for a calmer, more stable Middle East.”
“A Biden-Harris administration will seek to build on this progress, and will challenge all peoples of the region to keep pace,” he said.
Delegations from Israel and the UAE will meet in the coming weeks to sign bilateral agreements on investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, health care, culture, the environment, the establishment of reciprocal embassies, and other areas of mutual benefit. “” Opening direct ties between two of the Middle East’s most dynamic societies and advanced economies will transform the region by stimulating economic growth, enhancing technological innovation, and fostering closer relationships between people and people, “he said. read the statement as well.
Trump said Thursday that he had talks with Israel and the UAE. The president told reporters Israel and the UAE will ‘begin cooperation on governance’, along with exchanges of embassies and ambassadors. The president said he expected other countries to follow the lead of the UAE on this effort to work with Israel going forward.
The president said the action would be known as the ‘Abraham Accord’, named for the ‘father of all three major faiths’.
“No one better symbolizes the potential for unity of these three great faiths,” U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman of the Oval Office said Thursday.
Israel and the UAE also said they would continue their efforts to “reach a just, comprehensive and lasting resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
