The United Arab Emirates has become the first Gulf Arab country to reach a deal on normalizing relations with Israel, exposing years of discrete contacts between the two countries in trade and technology.
The so-called “Abraham Agreement “, announced by US President Donald Trump on Thursday, secures an Israeli commitment to stop further annexation of Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank.
Addressing reporters later in Tel Aviv, however, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had agreed to “delay” the annexation as part of the deal with the UAE, but the plans remain “on the table”.
The UAE is also the third Arab nation to reach such a deal with Israel, after Jordan and Egypt.
Here is how the various stakeholders in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other peoples react to the Israel-UAE deal:
Palestinian leadership
In a statement issued by his spokesman, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared the agreement.
“The Palestinian leadership rejects and promises the UAE, Israeli and American trilateral, surprise, announcement,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a senior adviser to Abbas.
Abu Rudeineh, reading a statement outside Abbas’ headquarters in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said the deal was a “betrayal of Jerusalem, al-Aqsa and the Palestinian cause.”
Hanan Ashrawi, an outspoken member of the executive committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization who has served in various leadership positions in Palestine, said the UAE’s announcement was tantamount to “sold out” by “friends”.
May you never experience the wrath of stealing your land; may you never feel the pain of living in captivity under occupation; may you never witness the demolition of your house or the murder of your loved ones. May you never be sold out by your “friends”. https://t.co/CBaNl1QQqx
– Hanan Ashrawi (@DrHananAshrawi) August 13, 2020
Hamas
Hamas rejected the US-brokered formal bond between Israel and the UAE in exchange for Israel rejecting its plans to annex West Bank land, saying it did not serve the cause of the Palestinians.
“This agreement does not serve the Palestinian cause at all, it rather serves the Zionist narrative. This agreement encourages the occupation. [by Israel] to continue his denial of the rights of our Palestinian people, and even to continue his crimes against our people. ” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a pronunciation.
“What is required is to support the legitimate struggle of our people against the occupation and not to make agreements with this occupier, and any annexation we will have to make through a Palestinian confrontation supported by the Arabs and internationally, and not by signing standardization agreements with them [Israel]. “
Jordan
Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the impact of a UAE-Israel deal “depends on what Israel will do” and whether Israel considers the deal an incentive to return to the 1967 borders, ” move the region to a just peace. “
Egypt
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi , a close ally of the UAE, welcomes the agreement.
“I follow with interest and appreciation the joint declaration between the United States, United Arab Emirates and Israel to halt the Israeli annexation of Palestinian lands and to take steps to bring peace to the Middle East,” el-Sisi said on Twitter .
Enter the date and time of the month when you enter the United States of America.
– Abdelfattah Elsisi (@AlsisiOfficial) August 13, 2020
“I appreciate the efforts of those responsible for the deal to achieve prosperity and stability for our region.”
United Kingdom
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomes the agreement between Israel and the UAE.
“The decision of the UAE and Israel to normalize relations is very good news,” Johnson said on Twitter.
“It was my deep hope that annexation did not go down on the West Bank and today’s agreement to suspend those plans is a welcome step on the road to a calmer Middle East.”
Iran
Iran’s news agency Tasnim, which is affiliated with the country’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said the deal between Israel and the UAE over the normalization of ties was “shameful”.
Iran’s religious leaders have yet to respond to the deal.
The agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates will not secure peace in the region, a special adviser on international affairs tweeted to the speaker of the Iranian parliament.
“The UAE’s new approach to normalizing ties w / false, criminal #Israel does not maintain peace and security, but serves the persistent crimes of Zionists,” tweeted Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, also a former deputy foreign minister.
“Abu Dhabi’s behavior has no justification, and turned back on the Palestinian cause. W / that strategic mistake, #UAE will be polluted in the fire of Zionism.”
UAE’s new approach to normalizing bonds w / false, criminal #Israel does not maintain peace and security, but serves the continuing crimes of Zionists. Abu Dhabi’s behavior has no justification, and returns the Palestinian cause. W / that strategic mistake, #UAE will be adorned with fire of Zionism. pic.twitter.com/NDNy94laa8
– H.amirabdollahian (@Amirabdolahian) August 13, 2020
Joe Biden
In a statement, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said: “The UAE’s offer to publicly recognize the state of Israel is a welcome, courageous, and badly needed act of statesmanship … A Biden-Harris administration will try to build on this progress, and will challenge all the peoples of the region to keep pace. “
Biden also addressed annexation: “Annexation would be a bodily blow to the cause of peace, that is why I am opposing it now and would oppose it as president,” he said.
United Nations
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes “any initiative that can promote peace and security in the Middle East region,” a UN spokesman said.
Comments on Twitter
Lisa Goldman, co-founder of 972Mag, a news and commentary website focusing on Israel and Palestine, said, “Netanyahu never intended to annex the West Bank, but the UAE is” claiming a diplomatic victory in exchange for what is likely to be a great deal. valuable security cooperative of Israel. Everything on the back of Palestinians, as usual. “
Netanyahu never intended to annex the W. Bank. But here we are, with the UAE claiming a diplomatic victory in exchange for what is probably a very very valuable security concern of Israel. All on the back of Palestinians, as usual. https://t.co/bpGp4B81JS
– Lisa Goldman (@lisang) August 13, 2020
The move also struck some Palestinians as a bad time and insulting to the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in the UAE.
Mohammed Hemish, who works in communications at al-Shabaka, the main Palestinian policy network, praised the UAE for its treatment of Palestinians who moved to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, which expelled more than 700,000 Palestinians , and subsequent wars that drove more.
OK … so this is what hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who live in the UAE and have given blood and sweat to the building it deserves: an announcement by a far-right U.S. president of a normalization agreement with a far-right Israeli government. pic.twitter.com/Wpn0xL8WLD
– Mohammed Hemish (@MohamedHemish) August 13, 2020
J Street
Left-wing advocacy group J Street welcomes announcements that Israel is halting plans to annex parts of the West Bank and that the UAE emirates and Israel are taking steps to create more normalized ties.
“Clarification will be needed that this is not just a short-term suspension of a disastrous idea, and the United States and the international community must demand that Israel permanently adhere to any unilateral annexation,” the group said in a statement. .
“The agreement between Israel and the UAE to move towards fully normalized ties is also welcome news for all who want to see a stable and prosperous Israel in peace and security alongside all its regional neighbors,” the statement read. “It’s just the latest evidence that dialogue and diplomacy, instead of unilateral action and bilingualism, are the route to long-term security.”
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