Since the UAE became the third Arab country to establish diplomatic ties with Israel in a surprise announcement last month, Bahrain has been the only regional neighbour to follow suit
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Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have claimed that their recent peace deal with Israel will help save the two-state solution, despite cries of betrayal from Palestinian leaders and suspicion about ulterior motives.
Since the UAE became the third Arab country to establish diplomatic ties with Israel in a surprise announcement last month, Bahrain has been the only regional neighbour to follow suit, despite signs that normalisation has been accepted by other Arab nations.
Both countries say their move would promote a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“It will contribute to our joint efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state,” said Anwar Gargash, the UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs, who noted that the agreement included an Israeli agreement to halt annexation of the West Bank.
Likewise, the king of Bahrain used his prerecorded address to the virtual United Nations General Assembly on Thursday to defend his small island-nation’s decision to formalise ties with Israel.
King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa said a two-state solution is the way to secure peace, saying, "this would usher in a new era of cooperation."
Normalising ties with Israel is about “rescuing the two-state solution” said Marc Schneier, a special adviser to the King of Bahrain.
“The first step is rescuing the two-state solution, then there needs to be a discussion about implementation,” he said. But Hussam Zomlot, a senior Palestinian diplomat in London, disputed the notion that normalisation would advance the Palestinian cause. "Normalisation is meant to be an act that would reward Israel for ending the occupation," he said.
Anger towards the agreements has led to Fatah and Hamas, the two main factions in the Palestinian territories, agreeing to run elections for the first time since 2006. The polls are due to take place at some point in the next six months.
Despite aggressive diplomatic efforts by the US, other Arab states have hesitated to follow the UAE’s lead. The head of Sudan’s military General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan led a delegation to the UAE this week, where US officials pressured them to establish ties with Israel in return for removal from a terrorism blacklist.
Palestinian officials fear that their dream of statehood has been overlooked by wealthy Gulf states
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But Sudanese officials have resisted linking the two issues, reiterating the position of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who last month told US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Sudan’s transitional government did not have a mandate to normalise ties.
Oman, another Arab state expected to eventually establish ties with Israel, has welcomed the UAE and Bahraini moves but has not commented on its own prospects for normalisation.
The accords between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain — both signed at the White House on September 15 — broke with decades of Arab consensus that ties with the Jewish state should not be established until it has signed a comprehensive peace deal with the Palestinians.
Palestinian officials also fear that their dream of statehood has been overlooked by wealthy Gulf states as they pursue lucrative trade deals with Israel and a potential purche of American F-35 fighter jets.
At last’s signing ceremony for the normalisation deals, President Trump appeared to confirm speculation that F-35s were one of the perks that brought the UAE to the negotiating table.
“I would have no problem in selling them the F-35, I would have absolutely no problem,” Mr Trump said.
His comments have alarmed some officials in Israel who fear that the sale of the hi-tech weapons to the UAE would undermine their own status as the region’s main military power.
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