US President Donald Trump announced on Friday a peace deal between Israel and Bahrain, which becomes the second Arab country to settle with its former foe over the last month, reinforcing an ambitious White House push to redraw the conflicts of the Middle East.
In what was termed “a truly historic day,” Trump said Israel and Bahrain were establishing full diplomatic and commercial relations.
The US President told reporters in the White House, “They will exchange embassies and ambassadors, begin direct flights between their countries and launch cooperation initiatives across a broad range of sectors, including health, business, technology, education, security and agriculture.”
Bahrain said in a joint statement it had agreed to formalize the deal with Israel at a ceremony next Tuesday in the White House, where the United Arab Emirates will also sign off on its own thaw with Israel announced in mid-August.
According to the statement, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump talked earlier Friday before announcing the new breakthrough.
Bahrain said that during the phone call, the king “stressed the need to reach a just and comprehensive peace as a strategic option, in accordance with the two-state solution and relevant resolutions of international legitimacy.”
A senior official in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, said the deal would boost regional “security, stability, prosperity.”
Until now, Israel has been able to strike only two similar peace accords with Arab countries. Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994, and Trump is hoping that the diplomatic successes will give him badly needed momentum going into the November 3 presidential election.
At the White House, Trump celebrated, calling the progress “very, very important for not only the Middle East, but for the world.”
He stressed that it “so interesting” that he was able to make the announcement on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States, When I took office the Middle East was in a state of absolute chaos.”
In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the agreement. saying in a Hebrew-language statement, “Citizens of Israel, I am moved to be able to tell you that this evening, we are reaching another peace agreement with another Arab country, Bahrain. This agreement adds to the historic peace with the United Arab Emirates.”
In the UAE, Hend Al Otaiba, director of strategic communications at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sent congratulations to Bahrain and Israel saying, “Today marks another significant and historic achievement which will contribute enormously to the stability and prosperity of the region.”
Trump expressed that more Arab nations could also open their doors to Israel.
“I am very hopeful that there will be more to follow. I can tell you there’s tremendous enthusiasm on behalf of other countries to also join,” Trump said.
The media embattled Republican has styled himself as the most pro-Israeli US president in history.
He has taken a string of decisions highly beneficial to Israel, from recognizing disputed Jerusalem as the country’s capital to tearing up an international accord meant to end Iran’s isolation in return for verified controls to prevent militarization of its nuclear industry.
At the same time, Trump has pushed to wind down the United States’ own military footprint after decades of bloody entanglements in Iraq and elsewhere. His earlier success in getting an Israel-UAE normalization prompted a right-wing Norwegian member of parliament to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The UAE’s announcement broke with years of Arab League policy on the Middle East conflict, prompting angry pushback from the Palestinians and Iran, who both termed the deal a betrayal.
The Palestinians, who see Arab support as crucial to their limited power in resisting Israeli occupation, quickly condemned the Israel-Bahrain deal as well.
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