The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain signed agreements on Tuesday for normalizing relations with Israel, becoming the latest Arab states to break a longstanding restriction.
U.S. President Donald Trump hosted the White House ceremony, finishing off controversial month when first the UAE and then Bahrain agreed to the peace treaty with Israel.
In front of a crowd of 700 hundred people on the White House, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed accords with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani.
Trump on the Peace Deal
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.
During the ceremony Trump affirmed: "We're here this afternoon to change the course of history." Flags of the United States, Israel, the UAE and Bahrain were in abundance.
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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."
Netanyahu Speaks
Netanyahu stated that the US-brokered peace drive has the potential to end the Arab-Israeli conflict for good. This day is a pivot of history, it heralds a new dawn of peace," Netanyahu told hundreds of attendees at a White House signing ceremony.
"This peace will eventually expand to include other Arab states. And ultimately, it can end the Arab-Israeli conflict, once and for all," he said.
Addressing the gathering, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan personally thanked Netanyahu for "choosing peace and for halting the annexation of Palestinian territories."
UAE Foreign Minister Bin Zayed
UAE Foreign Minister Abdallah Bin Zayed affirmed that the peace deal will usher a new era in the Middle East and thanked president Trump on his efforts to put the deal in place.
Bin Zayed also stated that the Peace Deal will aid Arab States to support Palestinians even more.
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