[ad_1]
WASHINGTON: Israel normalized relations with former enemies of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in a ceremony at the White House on Tuesday (September 15) when President Donald Trump said there were similar agreements negotiated by the United States between the Jewish state and several other nations, including Saudi Arabia. .
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the foreign ministers of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates sealed the accords establishing full diplomatic ties with a ceremony on a flag-decorated south lawn of the White House.
Hundreds of guests attended the event, which Trump hopes will increase his chances for re-election in November despite the coronavirus pandemic, but there were no handshakes to cement the historic agreements.
The flags of the US, United Arab Emirates, Israel, and Bahrain fly along a road in Netanya, Israel, on September 14, 2020. REUTERS / Nir Elias
Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are the first Arab nations to establish relations with Israel since Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994 and Trump hailed it as a “historic day for peace in the Middle East.”
“After decades of division and conflict, we mark the dawn of a new Middle East,” he said.
Trump said the accords, which have been denounced as a “betrayal” by the Palestinians, “will serve as the basis for a comprehensive peace throughout the region.”
(From left to right) Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, United States President Donald Trump and the United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister , Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, participate in the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords on the South Lawn of the White House on September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Alex Wong / Getty Images / AFP)
Speaking to reporters later, he said Israel would enter into similar deals with “seven, eight or nine” other countries that will soon include regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia “at the right time.”
Netanyahu called the day a “pivot of history” and thanked Trump for his “decisive leadership.”
“Heralds a new dawn of peace,” he said. “Ultimately, it can end the Arab-Israeli conflict once and for all.”
“To all the friends of Israel in the Middle East, those who are with us today and those who will join us tomorrow, I say as-salaam alaikum, peace with you, shalom,” Netanyahu said.
“TWO STATE SOLUTION”
Neither Trump nor Netanyahu made any reference to the Palestinians during their remarks, and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday that only an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories can bring peace to the Middle East.
“Peace, security and stability will not be achieved in the region until the Israeli occupation ends,” Abbas said.
As the accords were being signed in Washington, rockets were fired at Israel from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Two people were slightly injured.
For the Middle East, the accords mark a distinct change from a decades-long status quo in which Arab countries have tried to maintain unity against Israel on their treatment of stateless Palestinians.
Both the foreign ministers of the UAE and Bahrain mentioned the Palestinians in their remarks before the signing ceremony.
“Thank you for choosing peace and stopping the annexation of Palestinian territories,” UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan told Netanyahu. “I am here today to extend a hand of peace.”
Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani said a “just, comprehensive and durable two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” would be the “basis” for a lasting peace in the Middle East.
(From left to right) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, United States President Donald Trump and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan participate in the ceremony of signing of the Abrahamic Accords on the South Lawn of the White House in September. February 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Alex Wong / Getty Images / AFP)
Trump, speaking to Fox News before the ceremony, said the deals would pressure the Palestinians to either negotiate or face being “abandoned.”
“The Palestinians will eventually come in too,” he said.
“And you’re going to have peace in the Middle East without being stupid and shooting everyone, and killing everyone, and having blood all over the arena.”
Trump predicted that Iran, a regional rival to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, would seek to strike a deal with the United States if re-elected.
“I think they want to make a deal,” he said. “I’ll make a very fair deal.”
SALE F-35 TO UAE
The four countries in the White House share a common hostility toward Iran, which Trump has put under crippling economic and diplomatic pressure.
The thaw will give Israel and its two new Arab partners a great economic opening, just as they seek to rebuild after the international slowdown caused by the pandemic.
And it allows Trump to enjoy the optics of presiding over a historic breakthrough less than 50 days before the Nov. 3 election, which opinion polls suggest he is currently on track to lose.
It also provides a dose of good news coverage for Netanyahu, a close Trump ally facing trial for corruption and criticism for his handling of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the UAE has been using the negotiations as part of its campaign to pressure Washington to sell it the next-generation F-35 fighter jet.
Trump said Tuesday that he was willing to sell the fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates despite Israeli opposition.
“I would have no problem selling you the F-35,” he told Fox News, adding that it would mean “tremendous jobs at home.”
The UAE is considering the stealth fighter jet as a component of its ambitious plans to turn the rich little country into a regional military power.
Before the signing ceremony, hundreds of Palestinians protested against normalization agreements with Israel on Tuesday.
Grabbing Palestinian flags and wearing blue masks to protect against the coronavirus, protesters gathered in the cities of Nablus and Hebron in the occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.
Several dozen pro-Palestinian protesters also staged a protest outside the White House.
“This is a stab in the back for the Palestinian people,” said Zeina Hutchison, head of a coalition of pro-Palestinian associations behind the demonstration.
