WASHINGTON: Bahrain announced Friday that it would become the last Arab state to recognize Israel, a triumph for both the Jewish state and the US president. Donald trump who seeks pre-electoral triumphs.
The agreement is another step in a dream cherished by Israeli and American conservatives of gaining Arab recognition of Israel without establishing a state for the Palestinians, who quickly denounced Bahrain.
The announcement, weeks after United Arab Emirates He also said that he would recognize Israel, in a context of growing tensions with Iran, an arch enemy of the Gulf Arabs, Israel and the Trump administration.
Here’s how developments affect key players:
BahrainA Sunni-ruled kingdom with a large Shiite population, it has especially strained ties with Iran and is dependent on the United States, which has its Fifth Fleet on the small Gulf island.
Trump reversed course from his predecessor, Barack Obama, by selling weapons to Bahrain despite human rights concerns and has encouraged the kingdom to strengthen unofficial ties with Israel, and last year Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner launched the administration’s plan for the Middle East in Manama.
Will Wechsler, director of the Middle East program at the Atlantic Council think tank, said Gulf Arabs were also reacting to the perception that the United States was withdrawing from its leadership role, which they found “enormously worrying.”
With the historic Arab power centers of Cairo, Damascus and Baghdad turned inward, the Gulf states are increasingly concerned about the influence of non-Arab actors: the Shiite clerical state of Iran, Turkey linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and Vladimir Putin’s steadfast Russia.
“What you are seeing now is the emergence of a new coalition to be able to defend itself against those parties,” Wechsler said.
Israel and the Gulf Arabs “are not natural allies. There are cultural differences, but they are all being overcome right now because they share this perception of geopolitics and opportunities,” especially economic, he said.
The recognition is a coup for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will come to the White House on Tuesday to sign with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The Arab states are the first to recognize Israel in more than two decades, bringing the Jewish state closer to its goal of acceptance on the world stage and connecting it further within the region, including through direct flights to the Gulf.
Netanyahu’s main concession was to give up on a controversial Trump-blessed plan to annex much of the occupied West Bank, but it is no closer to allowing a Palestinian state, a target for the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain they say they still support.
Wechsler said the annexation would have been a “massive strategic disaster” for Israel and that the normalization agreements effectively forced him to “avoid shooting himself in the foot,” especially with the possibility of Joe Biden defeating Trump in November.
The Palestinian Authority called for the agreement by Bahrain another “stab in the back” amid fears that his cause for an independent state is losing steam among Arab governments.
Trump has spared no praise for his achievement, with the White House touting that the president had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, requiring only the introduction of a lawmaker.
With the deal, Trump can argue even stronger that he has been an ally of historic proportions for Israel after opposing international consensus with measures like recognizing Jerusalem as its capital.
Israel enjoys broad support within Trump’s crucial evangelical Christian electoral base.
BahrainThe announcement came just when AfghanistanThe government opens talks with the Taliban, bringing Trump closer to another key international target.
Brian Katulis, senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, welcomed the Bahrain agreed but questioned Trump’s role.
And he said the agreement did nothing to reduce tensions with Iran or move towards a Palestinian state.
“The agreement is primarily the result of shifting interests and alliances that have been in motion for many years,” he said.
“This agreement, combined with the one between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, is unlikely to fundamentally change the overall instability in the Middle East.
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