Washington: Declaring “the dawn of a new Middle East”, President Donald Trump has presided over the signing of historic diplomatic pacts between Israel and two Gulf Arab nations that he hopes will cast him as a peacemaker at the height of his re-election campaign.
Hundreds of people gathered on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) to witness the signing of agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The bilateral agreements formalise the normalisation of the Jewish state’s already thawing relations with the two Arab nations in line with their common opposition to Iran and its aggression in the region.
“We’re here this afternoon to change the course of history,” Trump said from a balcony overlooking the South Lawn. “After decades of division and conflict, we mark the dawn of a new Middle East.”
The agreements do not address the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While the UAE, Bahrain and other Arab countries support the Palestinians, the Trump administration has persuaded the two countries not to let that conflict keep them from having normal relations with Israel.