History will be made today as the UAE and Bahrain appear with Israel at the White House to sign normalization agreements.
The meeting will be attended by ambassadors from America’s major partners around the world including European allies, Australia, Japan and South Korea, plus numerous other Arab nations. Missing though, may be a sign of bipartisanship in the United States. Democrat lawmakers were invited by the Trump White House to join the historic celebration of a peace breakthrough but most have refused to attend.
President Donald Trump, who made the effort administration priority, will be joined by Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s minister of foreign affairs, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister.
What’s been called the Abraham Accords outlines out what the countries agreed to in recent days: the normalization of relations between them and cessation of hostilities.
One major historic aspect is that it will double the number of Muslim Arab countries that recognize the Jewish State.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel first announced the normalization on Aug. 13, shocking foreign policy observers who long thought such a deal was impossible. Leaders of both countries thanked Trump for his help saying it could not have been possible without his leadership in the region.
Bahrain’s announcement came just a week later. Then, that same week a Trump-brokered deal between Serbia and Kosovo was signed ending for all intents and purposes a modern conflict that begun under Bill Clinton that had escaped solutions by subsequent presidents Bush and Obama. The trio of peace and economic normalization deals has shocked Democrats and American media who had attempted to paint a narrative of Trump’s foreign policy as a failure. Now, with more peace agreements signed than any previous American president, Trump’s legacy is undeniable, say experts.
READ: Behind the scenes at the UAE peace deal
“There’s no more powerful response to the hatred that spawned 9/11 than this agreement,” Trump told reporters at the White House, referring to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks against the United States.
Netanyahu said in an address following Bahrain’s announcement, “It took us 26 years to get from the second peace agreement with an Arab state to the third peace agreement, and it took us not 26 years but 29 days to reach the peace agreement between the third Arab state and the fourth Arab state, and there will be more.”
Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, led negotiations on the deals.
A senior administration official told reporters Monday that all three countries were extremely excited.
The process will see the Emiratis and the Israelis signing a document and the Bahrainis and Israelis signing a document before something will be produced that everybody will sign, the official said.
The day will start with Trump greeting the representatives of the countries and holding several bilateral meetings before the signing ceremony.
The United States is still talking with other countries in the Middle East, the official said. More deals could come in the future as four additional Arab nations have expressed interest in peace with Israel.
Last week, Trump was nominated two separate times for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in the Middle East and Kosovo/Serbia.
–Dwight Widaman and Wire services
