Declaring "the dawn of a new Middle East," President Donald Trump on Tuesday presided over the signing of historic diplomatic pacts between Israel and two Gulf Arab nations that he hopes will lead to a new order in the Mideast and cast him as a peacemaker at the height of his reelection campaign.
Hundreds of people amassed on the sun-washed South Lawn to witness the signing of agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The bilateral agreements formalize the normalization of the Jewish state's already thawing relations with the two Arab nations in line with their common opposition to Iran and its aggression in the region.
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In front of a crowd of several hundred people, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed accords with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani.
The deals, denounced by the Palestinians, make them the third and fourth Arab states to take such steps to normalize ties since Israel signed peace treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.
Meeting Netanyahu earlier in the Oval Office, Trump said, "We'll have at least five or six countries coming along very quickly" to forge their own accords with Israel. But he did not name any of the nations involved in such talks.
Speaking from the White House balcony, Trump said: "We're here this afternoon to change the course of history." Flags of the United States, Israel, the UAE and Bahrain were in abundance.
He called it "a major stride in which people of all faiths and backgrounds live together in peace and prosperity" and declared that the three Middle East countries "are going to work together, they are friends."
"We're here this afternoon to change the course of history," Trump said from a balcony overlooking the South Lawn. "After decades of division and conflict, we mark the dawn of a new Middle East."
Netanyahu echoed Trump, saying that the agreement "brings hope to all the people of Abraham."
"For many decades Israel has prayed for peace, and this is why we are so grateful today. I thank you President Trump for your leadership... . You fought the dictators in Tehran and you managed to bring this deal we are signing right now."
The agreements do not address the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While the UAE, Bahrain and other Arab countries support the Palestinians, the Trump administration has persuaded the two countries not to let that conflict keep them from having normal relations with Israel.
During his speech, the UAE foreign minister thanked Netanyahu for halting the plan to extend Israeli sovereignty to certain areas in Judea and Samaria to allow the normalization to go through.
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