Israel, UAE, Bahrain Set to Sign Milestone Abraham Accords at White House
Zachary Stieber
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Israel and two other Middle Eastern countries are set to sign milestone deals in the White House on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump will be joined by H.E. 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.
The so-called Abraham Accords lay out what the countries agreed to in recent days: the normalization of relations between them.
Israel before the agreements was only recognized by two other countries in the Middle East.
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.
A man rides a scooter near the flags of the United States, United Arab Emirates, Israel, and Bahrain as they flutter along a road in Netanya, Israel, on Sept. 14, 2020. (Nir Elias/Reuters)
Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat (center left) elbow bumps with an Emirati official as he leaves Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Sept. 1, 2020. (Nir Elias/Pool via AP)
The two countries agreed to cooperate on the development of a vaccine for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19; open mutual embassies; and send flights between the two countries.
Bahrain’s announcement came last week.
“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.
Jared Kushner listens during an announcement in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Sept. 11, 2020. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)
(L-R) U.S. special representative for Iran Brian Hook, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Bahraini national security adviser Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa meet at Sakhir Palace in Manama, Bahrain, on Aug. 26, 2020. (Bahrain News Agency via AP)
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.
“I think you might find tomorrow that the UAE document is going to be a much, sort of, longer document than the Bahrain document. And honestly, that’s sort of a function of the time,” the official said, referring to how the UAE deal came sooner.
The day will start with Trump greeting the representatives of the countries and holding several bilateral meetings before the signing ceremony.
Several hundred people are expected to attend the event. Some Democratic lawmakers were invited. Some declined the invitation but others are believed to be attending.
Invitees were told to wear masks but also told they do not have to. The event is being held on the South Lawn of the White House, which is outside. Spread of the CCP virus is much lower outdoors.
The United States is still talking with other countries in the Middle East, the official said. More deals could come in the future.
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