US President Donald Trump announced the deal through a tweet and called the agreement “historic diplomatic breakthrough.” leading to “full normalization of relations” between Israel and the UAE.
Later on Trump told the reporter in the Oval Office that he had a “very special call” with leaders from both countries, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, and that they had agreed to a peace agreement.
The UAE and Israel plan to exchange embassies and ambassadors, according to the statement. It will be the third Arab country to open relations with Israel, after Egypt and Jordan.
“This deal is a significant step towards building a more peaceful, secure, and prosperous Middle East,” Trump said Thursday.
“It will be known as the Abraham Accord,” Trump said of the agreement, which, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said, is named for “the father of all three great faiths,” Christian, Muslim, and Jewish.
Israel says it will temporarily “suspend” plans to annex the West Bank, as part of a new peace deal with the United Arab Emirates.
Israel’s Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz lauded the agreement, saying it “highlights Israel’s eternal aspiration toward peace with its neighbors.”
But officials from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) rejected the agreement to establish bilateral relations between the UAE and Israel on Thursday.
Fawzi Barhoum, spokesman for Hamas, said in a statement: “We strongly condemn, in all possible ways, normalization with Israel, which is considered a stab in the back to the Palestinian cause, and will only encourage it to commit more crimes and aggression against the Palestinian people.
