Normalization: the White House welcomes the signing of the Israeli agreement with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain

Bahrain officials anticipated the signing of the normalization agreement with Israel, to be held today at the White House, by justifying it as a strategic decision to protect the interests of their country, denying that it harms the Palestinian cause.

The UAE and Bahrain are expected to sign a landmark agreement to normalize relations with Israel.

With this agreement, the two countries will become the third and fourth Arab countries to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel, after Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.

• Five reasons explain the importance of normalizing Israel’s relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain

It was the President of the United States, Donald Trump, who was the host of the signing ceremony, who announced the agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize relations between them.

The UAE’s decision, and later Bahrain’s decision to establish full relations with Israel, provoked different reactions in the region among supporters, rejects and vacillators.

Countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman and Egypt supported the agreement, with Turkey opposed to it and Iran condemned it.

However, the Palestinians, with all their political orientations, criticized this Emirati-Bahraini measure, believing that it serves Israel and harms the interests and cause of the Palestinian people.

“Do not abandon the Palestinian cause”

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al-Zayani said that the agreement to normalize relations between his country and Israel represents “a step towards achieving peace in the Middle East.”

But the Manama decision provoked the ire of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, describing it as “another stab in the back”, and the Arab and Islamic countries criticized it and considered it an “abandonment of the Palestinian cause”.

Interior Minister Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa responded that the agreement to normalize relations with Israel “is not an abandonment of the Palestinian cause, but aims to improve the security and economic stability of Bahrainis.”

He added that Iran “chose the method of domination in all its forms, and it became a constant threat to our internal security, so it was prudent to face this danger.”

• Is the normalization of the UAE and Bahrain with Israel a “free betrayal” or an “opportunity” for coexistence and development?

The Bahraini monarch’s advisor for diplomatic affairs and former Foreign Minister, Sheikh Khalid Al Khalifa, considered that the agreement to normalize his country’s relations with Israel “is in the interests of the security, stability and prosperity of the region.”

Bahrain faces increased internal opposition to the normalization agreement with Israel, as unlike the UAE, it is a country inhabited by a mix of Sunnis and Shiites loyal to Iran, which rejects normalization, and has a strong civil society movement. , which has worried the government for years.

The dissolved Al-Wefaq Party in Bahrain had announced its objection to the normalization of relations with Israel, and published on its website a statement from the Iranian-based Shiite leader, Issa Qassem, describing the UAE agreement. United, Bahrain and possible subsequent Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel as contrary to the will of the peoples. .

Bahrain maintains close relations with the United States and is home to the US Fifth Fleet.

Iran is accused of supporting the Shiite opposition in the country and inciting it against the government.

The US president considered that the agreement between Bahrain and Israel “is very important, not only for the Middle East, but for the entire world.”