Source: (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Trump announced Thursday morning
that the United Arab Emirates has officially recognized Israel as a legitimate
country in the Middle East and both governments will move forward with
normalized relations. This includes the establishment of "reciprocal
embassies" in each country. The agreement will be called the "Abraham
Accord."
"President Donald J. Trump, Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, Crown
Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates
spoke today and agreed to the full normalization of relations between Israel
and the United Arab Emirates," Trump tweeted in a lengthy statement from
the White House.
"This historic diplomatic breakthrough will advance peace
in the Middle East region and is a testament to the bold diplomacy and vision
of the three leaders and the courage of the United Arab Emirates and Israel to
chart a new path that will unlock the great potential in the region. All three
countries face many common challenges and will mutually benefit from today's
historic achievement."
"Delegations from Israel and the United
Arab Emirates will meet in the coming weeks to sign bilateral agreements
regarding investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications,
technology, energy, healthcare, culture, the environment, the establishment of
reciprocal embassies, and other areas of mutual benefit," the statement
continues.
"As a result of this diplomatic breakthrough and at the request
of President Trump with the support of the United Arab Emirates, Israel will
suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President's Vision for
Peace and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countries in the
Arab and Muslim world. The United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates
are confident that additional diplomatic breakthroughs with other nations are
possible and will work together to achieve this goal."
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RELATED
ARTICLE
Israel, UAE Deal Leaves the Left a Bit
Flummoxed
To facilitate Thursday’s dramatic announcement of an
agreement to normalize ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Prime
Minister Netanyahu and President Trump played — whether intentionally or not —
the old Jewish gambit of the rabbi and the goat.
The gist of the gambit is that to resolve domestic
disputes among a large family in a small house, the rabbi advises letting a
goat share the dwelling for a week. Once the goat is finally let out, everybody
is thrilled at how roomy their house had been.
Mr. Netanyahu’s goat is his announcement a few months
back that he intends to apply full Israeli law to parts of the West Bank. He
never actually disclosed which parts, merely hinting about the strategic Jordan
Valley and major settlement blocs that are widely assumed by the vast majority
of Israelis to be part of the Jewish state in any future arrangement.
That goat inserted a brand new element to Mideast
politics. Boos were heard from Arab capitals and, even more so, from the
increasingly bitter Europeans and professional peace processors in Washington.
The Israeli Left complained, too, and some within the Israel’s security
establishment warned of dire consequences. Only the Trump administration
kept its cool.
Meantime, the worst kept Mideast secret is
Israel’s growing ties with Gulf States. Jerusalem shares
intelligence, trade relations, and development tips — and has a host of ties —
with the UAE, as well as Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and even with their
neighboring Sunni enemy, Qatar. With Israel’s tacit approval, Doha transfers
cash to Gaza to appease Hamas each time its cross-border attacks get
unbearable.
Yet, until this week, Arab states vowed not to join Egypt
and Jordan in cutting a formal peace deal. They were, supposedly, going to hold
out for the vision of two states, a Palestinian Arab one next to Israel, to
become a reality. As a result, the ever-deepening relations between Israel, the
UAE and other Gulf states had to remain semi-clandestine.
Even as Israeli officials popped up in Arab capitals, no
formal relations were possible before — at least — negotiations between
Jerusalem and Ramallah began in earnest. Never mind that the aging Palestinian
Authority chief, Mahmoud Abbas, refused to negotiate. The impasse seemed to be
unbridgeable. In went the gambit of the goat — Bibi’s much maligned annexation
threat.
That festered for a while, and then he agreed to remove
the goat. Suddenly, Israelis and their newly beloved Mideast cousins could
overcome the seemingly unsolvable domestic dispute. Late Thursday, regional
sources were suggesting that Bahrain and Oman would be following suit.
A few words of caution are important. According to a
joint statement issued at Washington, America, Israel, and the UAE “agreed to
the full normalization of relations” between the two Mideastern countries.
“HUGE breakthrough today!” President Trump tweeted. “Historic Peace Agreement
between our two GREAT friends, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.”
Dubai, though, was decidedly more cautious. It stressed
Israel’s agreement to put on ice the annexation plan, and underplayed the
immediacy of formal relations. As the Emirates’ de-facto ruler, Crown Prince
Mohammed Bin Zaid, tweeted, “During a call with President Trump and Prime
Minister Netanyahu, an agreement was reached to stop further Israeli annexation
of Palestinian territories. The UAE and Israel also agreed to cooperation and
setting a roadmap towards establishing a bilateral relationship.”
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Vice
President Biden, was bragging Thursday that the day’s breakthrough was
facilitated by President Obama’s diplomacy. He was partially right, albeit in
a backhanded way. Their Iran deal, hated by the Sunni Gulf states,
pushed them closer to Israel. Undermining Iran’s advancement after the 2015
deal became a top goal for Gulf capitals and Jerusalem alike.
Now it looks like a trilateral meeting in the
Rose Garden between Messrs. Trump, Netanyahu and the crown prince known as MBZ
is in the works. As Ramallah officials stew in anger,
veteran self-styled peace experts, who have long predicted that no
self-respecting Arab would ever formalize ties with Israel without movement on
the Palestinian front, might have to recalculate — or find their own goat.
