Following close on the heels of the United Arab Emirates, another Middle East country Bahrain has decided to normalize ties with Israel. The to countries made this surprise announcement and said that this measure will help to ease tensions in the region.
The news was tweeted by the United States President Donald Trump following his conversation with both Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone according to a statement by the White House.
“This is a historic breakthrough to further peace in the Middle East,” the United States, Bahrain and Israel said in a joint statement.
“Opening direct dialogue and ties between these two dynamic societies and advanced economies will continue the positive transformation of the Middle East and increase stability, security, and prosperity in the region,” it said.
The US played a major role in brokering peace between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in the two Middle East countries deciding to normalize relations last month. A deal to that effect was signed between the two Middle East countries on September 15 at a White House ceremony hosted by Trump and one that was attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
According to analysts, the common thread of interest in achieving peace in the Middle East and in Arab countries normalizing relations with Israel at the behest of the US is the threat from Iran in the region.
Other Sunni Arab countries have been urged to engage with Israel by the Trump administration. Despite efforts, Saudi Arabia, the most powerful of those countries has signaled that they are not ready to do so yet.
However the small island country of Bahrain is also a close ally of Saudi Arabia and the US has its Navy’s regional headquarters in the country. In 2011, troops were sent by Riyadh to Bahrain to help squash an uprising and together with Kuwait and the UAE, offered the country a bailout of $10 billion.
After ties with Israel had been normalized by Egypt and Jordan decades ago with the countries exchanging embassies, the agreement of Bahrain to do the same makes it the fourth Arab country to reach such an agreement with Israel.
Bahrain had said last week that it would allow the use of its airspace for commercial flights between Israel and the UAE. That was followed by a decision by Saudi Arabia to allow an Israeli commercial airliner to fly over it on the way to the UAE.
(Source:www.cnbc.com)
The news was tweeted by the United States President Donald Trump following his conversation with both Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone according to a statement by the White House.
“This is a historic breakthrough to further peace in the Middle East,” the United States, Bahrain and Israel said in a joint statement.
“Opening direct dialogue and ties between these two dynamic societies and advanced economies will continue the positive transformation of the Middle East and increase stability, security, and prosperity in the region,” it said.
The US played a major role in brokering peace between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in the two Middle East countries deciding to normalize relations last month. A deal to that effect was signed between the two Middle East countries on September 15 at a White House ceremony hosted by Trump and one that was attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
According to analysts, the common thread of interest in achieving peace in the Middle East and in Arab countries normalizing relations with Israel at the behest of the US is the threat from Iran in the region.
Other Sunni Arab countries have been urged to engage with Israel by the Trump administration. Despite efforts, Saudi Arabia, the most powerful of those countries has signaled that they are not ready to do so yet.
However the small island country of Bahrain is also a close ally of Saudi Arabia and the US has its Navy’s regional headquarters in the country. In 2011, troops were sent by Riyadh to Bahrain to help squash an uprising and together with Kuwait and the UAE, offered the country a bailout of $10 billion.
After ties with Israel had been normalized by Egypt and Jordan decades ago with the countries exchanging embassies, the agreement of Bahrain to do the same makes it the fourth Arab country to reach such an agreement with Israel.
Bahrain had said last week that it would allow the use of its airspace for commercial flights between Israel and the UAE. That was followed by a decision by Saudi Arabia to allow an Israeli commercial airliner to fly over it on the way to the UAE.
(Source:www.cnbc.com)
