Israel establishes full ties with Bahrain and United Arab Emirates at White House with ‘Abraham Accords’
- Trump says similar US-brokered deals with several other countries coming ‘very, very soon’
- Bahrain and UAE are first Arab nations to establish relations with Israel since Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994
Israel normalised relations with long-time foes Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates at a White House ceremony on Tuesday as President Donald Trump said similar US-brokered deals were close between the Jewish state and “five or six” other nations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the foreign ministers of Bahrain and the UAE sealed the historic agreements with a signing ceremony on a flag-decorated White House lawn.
Hundreds of guests attended the event despite the coronavirus pandemic but there were no ceremonial handshakes to cement the agreements.
Bahrain and the UAE are the first Arab nations to establish relations with Israel since Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994 and Trump, who is hoping the deals will boost his re-election hopes, hailed it as a “historic day for peace in the Middle East”.
“After decades of division and conflict we mark the dawn of a new Middle East,” Trump said. “We’re here this afternoon to change the course of history.”
