A month after the agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, US President Donald Trump announced Friday, September 11, that Bahrain and the Hebrew state would normalize their relations. “Another historic breakthrough today!, at tweeted the tenant of the White House. Our two great friends Israel and Bahrain have reached a peace agreement. “
In a joint statement, the leaders of the two states and Donald Trump write : “This is a historic step towards peace in the Middle East. The opening of a direct dialogue on the creation of links between these two dynamic societies and their developed economies will help confirm the transformation of the Middle East and increase stability, security and prosperity in the region. “
For his part, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, wrote in a statement in Hebrew: “Citizens of Israel, I am moved to inform you that tonight we will reach another peace agreement with another Arab country, Bahrain. This agreement is in addition to the historic peace with the United Arab Emirates. “
For Khaled Al-Khalifa, an adviser to King of Bahrain Hamad Ben Issa Al-Khalifa, this agreement contributes to “Security, stability and prosperity” of the region. This initiative “Sends a positive and encouraging message to the people of Israel that a just and comprehensive peace with the Palestinians is the best way”, he added in a tweet.
Common hostility to Iran
Normalizing relations between Israel and US allies in the Middle East, including the wealthy Gulf monarchies, is a key objective of Donald Trump’s regional strategy to contain Iran, the arch enemy of Washington and the United States. ‘Hebrew State.
Bahrain and Israel share the same hostility towards Tehran, which Manama accuses of instrumentalizing the Shiite community in Bahrain against the ruling Sunni dynasty.
The joint statement released by the White House specifies that Bahrain will join a signing ceremony scheduled for Tuesday in Washington between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, in the presence of Mr. Netanyahu.
This agreement will make the Emirates and Bahrain the third and fourth Arab countries to establish diplomatic ties with the Jewish state, after the peace treaties concluded with Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994). “I welcome this important step which aims to consolidate stability and peace in the Middle East and which will make it possible to find a just and permanent solution to the Palestinian cause”, tweeted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.
On Thursday, the President of the United States predicted that Saudi Arabia would eventually do it: “You will see other countries arriving quite quickly and we could have peace in the Middle East. I think that in the end, several countries will join forces. The big ones will arrive. I spoke to the King of Saudi Arabia, so we are talking to each other. We have just started the dialogue and we will see them arrive. “
Failure of the Palestinians
The Palestinian Authority and the Islamist movement Hamas, for their part, immediately castigated this announcement. “The agreement between Bahrain and Israel is a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people”, said Ahmad Majdalani, Minister of Social Affairs of the Authority. Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, denounced a “Aggression” wearing a “Serious harm” to the Palestinian cause.
Since coming to power, Donald Trump has alienated himself from the Palestinian Authority by increasing the number of decisions favorable to Israel, aware of thereby satisfying the important evangelical Christian fringe of his electorate.
For its part, the Palestinian Authority has failed to convince member states of the Arab League to condemn the Israeli-Emirati agreement. Ramallah fears that he will question the position of the member states of the League, which made the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories and the creation of a Palestinian state the conditions for the normalization of their relations with Israel.
Without mentioning the agreement, Prince Faisal Ben Farhan, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, reaffirmed on Wednesday Riyadh’s support for the creation of this state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
During a visit by US Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo to Manama at the end of August, the King of Bahrain reaffirmed that his country supported the creation of a Palestinian state, seeming to implicitly reject Washington’s call to quickly establish relations with Israel.
