Bahrain, UAE, Israel sign US-brokered peace agreements
Sep 15, 2020
Washington [US], September 16 : United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) presided over the signing ceremony at the White House to establish the foundation of the peace agreements between Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
"Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain will establish embassies, exchange ambassadors, and begin to work together as partners. They are friends," The White House tweeted.
According to the Abraham Accord signed by the two Gulf countries -- Bahrain and UAE-- they have now joined Egypt and Jordan as the only Arab nations to have full relations with Israel.
After the signing of the Abraham Accord by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bahrain's foreign minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of the UAE, Trump called on other Arab and Muslim nations to follow the UAE's lead.
"Now that the ice has been broken, I expect more Arab and Muslim countries will follow the United Arab Emirates' lead. And I want to just thank them-- it's not surprising, knowing Mohammed so well. It's not surprising. They are in that lead position. And normalise relations with Israel. We are already discussing this with other nations -- with very powerful, very good nations and people that want to see peace in the Middle East. So you will probably see others of these, but this is the first one in more than 25 years," Trump said.
He further said, "The countries have committed to the exchange of embassies and ambassadors, and to begin cooperation across a broad range of fields including education, healthcare, trade, and security.
This deal is only the beginning of normalised relations between Israel and its neighbours, with many more likely to come."
"This deal will allow much greater access to Muslims from throughout the world to visit the many historical sites in Israel -- which the Muslims want to see very badly and have wanted to see for many, many decades -- and to peacefully pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is a very special place for them."
The three copies of the Abraham Accord were signed by each representative in English, Arabic and Hebrew.
