Israel’s cabinet has approved the September 15 signing of the normalisation deal with the United Arab Emirates and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and Abu Dhabi’s crown prince agreed to meet soon. The US-brokered deal between Israel and the UAE was annouced by the Palestinian leadership as a betrayal of their quest for statehood in Israeli-occupied land. On monday Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan said that Netanyahu was talking about “strengthening bilateral ties” hoping for peace to come in the region. Netanyahu said he and the crown prince would meet soon.
The UAE and Bahrain have become the third and fourth Arab countries to form diplomatic ties with Israel. The only two Arab countries Israel had signed peace treaties with in the past were Egypt and Jordan, but that was back in the 90’s. Trump was the one who pushed for normalization deals through his proposed Middle East plan which was rejected by Palenstines and gained very little support. And even though his plan was basically rejected some Gulf states established covert ties with Israel in recent years, but there is no proof that it was through Trump’s plan.
Many Arab states say they remain committed to the Arab Peace Initiative – which calls for Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Palestinian territories. In my opinion, if enough states want Israel’s withdrawal, then I think that they should have to. When I looked further into Trump’s plan, I think that if the Palestinians hadn’t rejected it, it could’ve been really good for the Middle East and resolved some conflicts. Israel has agreed to a four-year “land freeze” to secure the possibility of a two-state solution, says the White House. Trump said that “during this time, when the land allocated under his plan for a new Palestinian state would “remain open and undeveloped”, the Palestinians would be able to study the deal, negotiate with Israel, and “achieve the criteria for statehood”.