WASHINGTON: Israel normalised relations with long-time foes Bahrain and therefore the United Arab Emirates at a White House ceremony on Tuesday as President Donald Trump said similar US-brokered deals were close between the Jewish state and "five or six" other nations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and therefore the refore the foreign ministers of Bahrain and the UAE sealed the historic agreements with a signing ceremony on a flag-decorated White House lawn.
Hundreds of guests attended the event despite the coronavirus pandemic but there have been no ceremonial handshakes to cement the agreements. Bahrain and therefore the UAE are the primary Arab nations to determine relations with Israel since Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994 and Trump, who is hoping the deals will boost his reelection hopes, hailed it as a "historic day for peace within the Middle East ."
"After decades of division and conflict we mark the dawn of a replacement Middle East ," Trump said. "We’re here this afternoonto change the course of history." He said the agreements "will function the inspiration for a comprehensive peace across the whole region" and "there are going to be other countries, very, very soon."
Bahrain, UAE sign affect Israel Speaking to reporters before the ceremony, Trump said "we´ll have a minimum of five or six countries coming along very quickly." Trump didn't name the extra countries, but hinted during a gathering with UAE secretary of state Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan that Saudi Arabia could also be on board.
"We´ve had great talks with Saudi Arabia . i feel their mind is extremely open," Trump said. Netanyahu called the day a "pivot of history." "It heralds a replacement dawn of peace," he said. "Ultimately it can end the Arab-Israeli conflict once and for all."
In remarks directed at Netanyahu, UAE secretary of state Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan said: "I stand here today to increase a hand of peace and receive a hand of peace."
"Thank you for selecting peace and halting the annexation of Palestinian territories," he said in one among the rare references to the Palestinians during the event. In his remarks, Bahrain secretary of state Abdullatif al-Zayani stressed the necessity for a "two-state" solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Trump, chatting with Fox News before the ceremony, said the agreements would put pressure on the Palestinians to also come to the negotiating table or they might be "left call at the cold."
"The Palestinians will ultimately are available too," he said. "And you´re getting to have peace within the Middle East without being stupid and shooting everybody, and killing everybody, and having blood everywhere the sand."
Trump predicted that Iran – a regional rival to Bahrain and therefore the UAE – would seek to form a affect the us if he's reelected. "I think they need to form a deal," he said. "I´ll make a really square deal ." - F-35 sale to UAE -
All the four countries at the White House share a standard hostility to Iran, which Trump has anesthetize crippling economic and diplomatic pressure.
The thaw also will give Israel and its two new Arab partners an enormous economic opening, just once they are looking to rebuild after the international slowdown triggered by the pandemic.
Trump enjoyed the optics of presiding over a historic breakthrough but 50 days before polling day , which opinion polls suggest he's currently on track to lose.
Netanyahu, an in depth Trump ally who faces a corruption trial and criticism over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, could also use a dose of excellent news coverage.
The UAE, meanwhile, has been using the negotiations as a part of its campaign to pressure Washington to sell it the leading edge F-35 warplane.
Trump said Tuesday he was willing to sell the warplanes to the UAE despite Israeli opposition. "I would haven't any problem in selling them the F-35," he told Fox News, adding that it might mean "tremendous jobs reception ."
The UAE is eying the fighter jet as a component in its ambitious plans to form the tiny , wealthy country into a regional military power.
Ahead of the signing ceremony, many Palestinians protested Tuesday against the normalization deals with Israel.
Clutching Palestinian flags and wearing blue face masks for cover against the novel coronavirus, demonstrators rallied within the cities of Nablus and Hebron within the occupied West Bank and within the Gaza Strip . Several dozen pro-Palestinian demonstrators also staged a protest outside the White House because the ceremony happened .
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