DUBAI / JERUSALEM / WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced Thursday that they would normalize diplomacy and forge a new broad hip, a move that is transforming the political order of the Middle East from the Palestinian factor to the opposite combat against Iran. .
Under the agreement, which U.S. President Donald Trump helped negotiate, Israel agreed to suspend its planned annexation of spaces in the occupied West Bank. It also reinforces opposition to Iran, a regional power, which the United Arab Emirates, Israel and the United States see as the greatest risk in a conflict-ravaged Middle East.
Israel had signed peace agreements with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. But the United Arab Emirates, as well as many other Arab countries, did not recognize Israel and had no formal diplomatic or economic relations with it until now. It is the first Arab Gulf country to conclude such an agreement with the Jewish state.
Officials from the 3 countries called the agreement “historic” and a major step towards peace. But the surprised Palestinian leaders denounced it as a “backstab” to his cause.
One team said Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, had “accepted the full normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.”
The agreement will allow the two countries to “chart a new path that will mark the wonderful prospects of the region,” he said.
Israel and the UAE are expected to exchange ambassadors and embassies soon. A signature rite will be held at the White House.
“Following this diplomatic breakthrough and at President Trump’s request with that of the United Arab Emirates, Israel will suspend the declaration of sovereignty” over the West Bank spaces as stipulated in a U.S. plan announced through Trump in January, he said.
The agreement, known as the Abraham Agreement, also gives Trump a foreign policy achievement while seeking re-election on November 3. Speaking in the Oval Office of the White House, Trump said agreements were being discussed with other countries in the region.
Trump said the deal unites “two of America’s closest and most capable partners in the region” and represents “a vital step toward building a richer, more peaceful and secure Middle East.”
The United Arab Emirates said it would continue to support the Palestinian people, hope to create an independent state in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, and that the agreement maintains the feasibility of a two-state solution for Israel over a period of time. long time. Palestinian conflict.
The agreement may also be a non-public condiment for Netanyahu, who is being tried for alleged corruption and whose national popularity has plummeted for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a televised speech, Netanyahu said the agreement would lead to “total and formal peace” with the United Arab Emirates and expressed the hope that other countries in the region would lead it. It also meant access to a request by Trump to “temporarily await” the implementation of his annexation promise, Netanyahu said.
“This is an incomparable moment, a historic moment for peace in the Middle East,” Netanyahu added.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, however, rejected the agreement. Spokesman Abu Rudeineh, reading an open-air Abbas headquarters in Ramallah in the West Bank, said it was a “betrayal of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa (mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine) and the Palestinian cause.”
When asked if Palestinian leaders agreed, veteran negotiator Hanan Ashrawi told Reuters: “We were blind. Array… It’s a general sale.”
In Gaza, Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for the Islamist armed organization Hamas, said: “Normalization is a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause and serves the Israeli occupation.”
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates said the agreement would end Israel’s annexation of the Palestinian territories, for which Israel awaits Washington’s green kindness.
A senior U.L. official Anwar Gargash said the deal helped defuse what he called a time bomb. Gargash suggested that Israelis and Palestinians return to the negotiating table.
“NIGHTMARE” FOR IRAN
Trump’s special envoy, Brian Hook, called the deal a “nightmare” for Iran. An Iranian official said the agreement would guarantee peace in the region.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, special adviser to the president of the Iranian parliament, said in a tweet: “Abu Dhabi’s behavior has no justification, returning to the Palestinian cause. With this strategic error, #UAE will be devoured by the chimney of Zionism. »
Iran and Israel are wonderful enemies. Israel is concerned about Iran’s alleged efforts to expand nuclear weapons, which Tehran denies. Iran is also concerned about indirect wars from Syria to Yemen, where the United Arab Emirates has been a key member of the Saudi-led coalition that opposes forces aligned with Iran.
With a population of less than 10 million, but the largest economy of the arab world’s oil-based time, the United Arab Emirates has been increasingly publicized and the army’s influence in the Gulf and the region at large over the more than two decades, largely with the aim of confronting Islamist Militants. and the influence of Iran.
The delegations of Israel and the United Arab Emirates will meet in the coming weeks to signal agreements on investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications and other issues, the whole said.
“It would be impossible for all,” TrumpArray
“Now that the ice has been broken, I hope more Arab and Muslim countries will follow the example of the United Arab Emirates,” Trump added.
This is already under discussion with other states, he said.
(Report through Maha El Dahan, Lisa Barrington and Parisa Hafezi, Steve Holland in Washington; Jeff Heller in Jerusalem, written through Angus MacSwan; edited through Will Dunham)
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