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Image source
EPA
Signature of the standardization agreement between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed a normalization agreement with Israel, at the White House, under the auspices of the President of the United States, Donald Trump.
Trump described the event as an “extraordinary day for the world that would set history on a new course” and praised what he called “the dawn of a new Middle East.”
All three countries, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Israel, hailed the agreements as historic.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that this new push for peace could end the Arab-Israeli conflict for good.
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are the third and fourth Arab countries, respectively, to recognize Israel, since its establishment in 1948.
UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed thanked Netanyahu for freezing his plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
For their part, the Palestinians condemned the agreements, which they viewed as treason, and protests broke out in the West Bank and Gaza.
The Palestinian prime minister said yesterday that the signing of the agreement will be a “black day for the Arab nation.”
But US President Donald Trump has said the Palestinians will return to the negotiating table soon.
Trump hopes that other Arab countries will follow the example of the two Gulf states, but the Palestinians urge Arab countries not to do so, as long as their conflict remains unresolved.
For decades, most Arab countries boycotted Israel, insisting that relations with it be established only after the Palestinian conflict was resolved.
“After decades of division and conflict, we are celebrating the dawn of a new Middle East,” Trump told hundreds of people at the White House on Tuesday.
He added: “We are here this afternoon to change the course of history.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the accords, saying: “This is a crucial day in history. It heralds a new dawn of peace.”
On the other hand, the Israeli army said that two rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip during the signing ceremony of the two agreements.
Why are the agreements described as “historic”?
Before the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, the other Arab countries that officially recognized Israel were only Egypt and Jordan, which signed peace treaties in 1978 and 1994, respectively.
Mauritania, the Arab states located in northwestern Africa, established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1999, but severed those ties in 2010.
Many hope that other countries will follow the lead of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
So far, the Saudis have indicated that they are not prepared for this.
The accords are also likely to lead to new security relations, in a region that many Arab Gulf states share with the Israelis in a dispute with Iran.
