Exclusive: Will UAE-Israel Peace Deal Help Two-State Solution?

The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said that the agreement to normalize relations concluded by his country with Israel is a "bold step to ensure a two-state solution for Palestine."

"The agreement stipulates laying down a roadmap towards launching joint cooperation, leading to bilateral relations... stopping Israel's annexation of the Palestinian territories," the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, announced in a tweet on Thursday.

MBZ indicated that the UAE-Israeli agreement came after a phone call between him, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the Mont Carlo report.

A joint statement was issued by the United States of America, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates, stating that the agreement provides for "the conduct of full bilateral relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates."

[caption id="attachment_143090" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash[/caption]

The statement described the agreement as a "historic diplomatic achievement" that would "strengthen peace in the Middle East region, and it is a testament to the bold diplomacy and vision of the three leaders, and to the courage of the United Arab Emirates and Israel to chart a new path that opens the way to great potentials in the region."

UAE's efforts to halt annexation plans

He continued, "As a result of this diplomatic breakthrough and at the request of President Trump and with the support of the United Arab Emirates, Israel will stop the plan to annex Palestinian lands in accordance with Trump's peace plan, and now focus its efforts on strengthening relations with other countries in the Arab and Islamic world."

"What we have done (...) is a bold step to ensure a two-state solution," Gargash told reporters, adding that the Emirati embassy will not be in Jerusalem and that its opening "will not take long."

The UAE ambassador to Washington, Yusef Al-Otaiba, considered that the agreement reached by his country with Israel constitutes "a diplomatic victory" and "an important advance in Arab-Israeli relations."

"Today's announcement is a victory for diplomacy and for the region. It is an important progress in Arab-Israeli relations," Al-Otaiba said in a statement published on the website of the UAE embassy in Washington.

Moreover, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi lauded the agreement and the UAE's efforts to halt the annexation plans of the occupied Palestinian plans.