Normalization: announcing the establishment of full diplomatic relations between Bahrain and Israel

Image source
Reuters

On Friday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an agreement to establish diplomatic relations between his country and the Kingdom of Bahrain.

This announcement comes less than a month after the agreement to establish diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

“Citizens of Israel, I am pleased to tell you that tonight we will reach another peace agreement with another Arab country, Bahrain. This agreement is in addition to the historic peace agreement with the United Arab Emirates,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement.

Netanyahu described Bahrain’s agreement to normalize relations with Israel as a sign of a “new era of peace.”

“For many years we have invested in peace, and now peace will invest in us, and it will invest heavily in the Israeli economy, and this is very important,” he added.

US President Donald Trump tweeted and said the move was aimed at easing tensions in the Middle East.

Trump posted the news on Twitter after speaking by phone with the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The White House said the three leaders issued a joint statement stipulating Bahrain’s agreement to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel.

Bahrain confirmed, in an official statement, that it established full diplomatic relations with Israel, following a phone call between the King of Bahrain, the US President and the Israeli Prime Minister.

According to the text of the statement published by the official Bahrain news agency: “The President of the United States, Donald Trump, His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, King of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu They made a phone call today, during which they agreed to establish full diplomatic relations between Israel. And the Kingdom of Bahrain. “

The statement emphasized: “This is a historic step towards achieving peace in the Middle East, as dialogue and direct relations between the two active societies and the two advanced economies would build on the current positive transformation in the Middle East. and they would support stability, security and prosperity in the region. “

Bahrain’s official news agency stated that the King of Bahrain emphasized in a phone call with Netanyahu and Trump the need to achieve a just and lasting peace based on the two-state solution.

For his part, the former Bahrain Foreign Minister and adviser to the King of Bahrain, Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, said in a tweet on Twitter: “The announcement of establishing relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and Israel is in the interest of the security, stability and prosperity of the region “.

And many Arab countries welcomed the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bahrain and Israel, as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said on Friday in a tweet on Twitter appreciating the “important step” in establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and Israel. Bahrain.

The United Arab Emirates also announced that, in an official statement, they welcomed Bahrain to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.

Bahrain’s statement, issued after tripartite contact between the US President, the Israeli Prime Minister and the King of Bahrain, referred to the pioneering role of the UAE in establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, saying: “The Three parties praised the leadership role of the United Arab Emirates and its crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on August 13. 2020 by announcing the establishment of full diplomatic relations with Israel. ”

Hamas announced its denunciation and rejection of the Bahrain agreement to establish relations with Israel, describing it as a “real threat to the security of the region and the Arab world” and “damaging the Palestinian cause.”

He added in an official statement: “This series of steps, which was initiated by the rulers of the Emirates, then the rulers of Bahrain, constitutes political crimes, reflects a miserable failure in reading the Zionist tendencies towards the region, contributes to approving the deal of the century and hits the foundations of Arab solidarity “.

Image source
EPA

He clarified that this agreement would not have been possible without what he described as the “poor position of the Arab League.”

And he warned about the dangerous repercussions of this step due to the merger of the occupation, and the preparation for greater control and hegemony over the capacities and countries of the region, according to the movement.

The Hamas statement emphasized that “everything that results from these agreements does not represent our people or our nation, and the response will be with more Palestinian unity, confronting and isolating the occupation, and activating all the tools of resistance to expel the occupation. “, according to the movement.

For his part, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said: “After the agreement between Israel and Bahrain, the necessary step to achieve a just and complete peace must come from Israel.”

For decades, most Arab countries boycotted Israel, on the condition that the Palestinian conflict be resolved fairly and completely in order to establish relations with it.

The Bahrain News Agency said that the Kingdom of Bahrain “accepted the invitation of the President of the United States, Trump, to attend the signing ceremony of the agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel on September 15 at the White House, where both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdul Latif Al-Zayani will sign the peace declaration. “

Trump said other Arab countries are eager to sign treaties with Israel and indicated that he is speaking with the King of Saudi Arabia and that the latter will come, in a clear indication that Saudi Arabia will sign a treaty with Israel, but the latter’s embassy in Washington he refused to comment on this news.