Bahrain will normalize ties with Israel, Trump announces
Published September 11, 2020
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Bahrain will normalize ties with Israel at a White House ceremony next week, President Donald Trump said on Twitter Friday, less than a month after the United Arab Emirates agreed to normalize ties with the Jewish state.
“Another HISTORIC breakthrough today! Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain agree to a Peace Deal – the second Arab country to make peace with Israel in 30 days!” Trump said Friday on Twitter.
He attached to another tweet a joint statement of the United States, Bahrain and Israel.
Joint Statement of the United States, the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the State of Israel pic.twitter.com/xMquRkGtpM
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 11, 2020
Bahrain and to a lesser extent the UAE have had informal relations with Israel for years. Bahrain last year hosted a summit unveiling the economic portion of the Trump administration’s Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal and allowed Israeli journalists to cover the event.
But official normalization of ties is a significant step forward for Israel’s ambition for peace with its Middle Eastern neighbors, and for the Trump administration’s Middle East policy.
The statement pledged that the parties would continue to seek a “just, comprehensive and enduring resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
The statement said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa “express their deep appreciation to President Trump for his dedication to peace in the region.”
Bahrain will be the fourth Arab nation to formalize an agreement with Israel. Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979, and Jordan and Israel signed a peace deal in 1994.
