On Tuesday, 15 September 2020, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and the United States signed the Abraham Accords, historic peace treaties that mark “dawn of a new Middle East”.
“We’re here this afternoon to change the course of history,” US President Donald Trump said. “After decades of division and conflict, we mark the dawn of a new Middle East.”
Addressing the crowd before signing the agreements, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded the achievement as “a pivot of history.” He said the new peace momentum could end the Arab-Israeli conflict “once and for all.”
Netanyahu said Israel was “filled with profound gratitude” to the leadership shown by Trump as well as Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Manama (Bahrain), in “bringing hope to all the children of Abraham.”
He said Trump had “successfully brokered the historic peace we are signing today, a peace that has broad support in Israel, in the Middle East, in America — indeed, in the entire world.” This day, he said, “heralds a new dawn of peace.”
“To all our friends in the Middle East, those who are with us today and those who will join us tomorrow, I say: As-salamu alaykum,” Netanyahu said, switching briefly to Arabic. “Peace unto thee. Shalom.”
The Israeli leader stressed once again his position that “strength brings peace”, and quoted the Psalms, saying, “May God give strength to His people, may God bless His people with peace.”
Around 700 people are said to have attended this historic event including CUFI’s founder Pastor John Hagee who said:
“This is nothing short of a political miracle,” Pastor Hagee said.
“The sons of Abraham are coming together for the first time in thousands of years. This has been a shift in the dynamics in the Middle East that people need to understand, that suddenly Israel has reached out to the Arab nations and they’re coming together to promote peace and harmony and prosperity and they’re not allowing Abbas and the Palestinians to be the objection to everything Israel raises on behalf of peace.”
“We have tried for years to go through the Palestinians to get something. Now, the President has gone around them and this is coming together with such speed that it’s breathtaking.”
The agreements were only the third and fourth peace accords with Arab states in the Jewish state’s 72-year history.
Three documents were signed at the ceremony: In addition to the individual bilateral agreements signed by Israel with the UAE and Bahrain, all three signed a trilateral document, officials said. The agreements are dubbed the “Abraham Accords” after the patriarch of the world’s three major monotheistic religions. Trump signed as a witness.
The UAE agreement will still need to be approved by Israel’s government, and will likely go to the Knesset for ratification.
The text of the agreements have not been made public, but officials say they will be released sometime after the ceremony.
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