London: Israel on Tuesday signed agreements to normalize diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain at the White House, reported an international News agency.
US President Donald Trump joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani in signing the three-way agreements.
The signing ceremony, which was held in the South Lawn at the White House, formally makes the UAE and Bahrain the third and the fourth Arab nation to establish diplomatic ties with Israel. Egypt and Jordan signed their peace deals with Israel in 1979 and 1994, respectively.
The signing also demonstrated that the Trump administration is eager to showcase its foreign policy achievement and gain support among pro-Israel evangelical Christians with the upcoming presidential election.
Trump touted the historical significance of the agreements by calling them “peace deals.”
The UAE and Bahrain have never fought a war against Israel in history, and the unofficial relationship between Israel and the two Arab states have developed for years.
Netanyahu hailed the normalization agreements as “a pivot of history” that heralds new dawn of peace, saying Israel, the UAE and Bahrain are eager to invest in a future of partnership, prosperity and peace.
Bahrain’s foreign minister said that the agreement was an important first step towards the two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
