Abraham Accords: After the Emirates, Bahrain Establishes Diplomatic Relations with Israel

(Patria) - The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain will sign a set of agreements on normalizing relations with Israel on Tuesday, thus expanding the circle of Arab countries opening diplomatic channels with their Middle Eastern neighbor.

The initiator of the strategic 'rearrangement' of the Middle East, aimed at weakening Iran's influence, is US President Donald Trump, who will host the signing ceremony of the agreements on Tuesday; the signatories of the expanded version of the Abraham Accords will be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, and Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullatif Al Zayani. 

Thus, after Egypt and Jordan, Bahrain and the Emirates will become the only Arab countries to have opened diplomatic channels with Israel.

The new Middle Eastern alliances, which have drawn condemnation from the Palestinian side, represent a major diplomatic victory for the US President, and an important asset for his 'peacemaker' election campaign.

The normalization of relations between Arab countries and Israel will also secure Trump the support of pro-Israel evangelical voters, who otherwise constitute a significant part of his political base, Reuters writes.

The White House is also negotiating with Oman, which could be the next country to establish diplomatic ties with Israel.

Negotiations were also held with the Gulf's largest power - Saudi Arabia, whose government is still not ready for such a step.

The signing of agreements with the two Arab countries also represents a diplomatic victory for Netanyahu, who is under great pressure at home due to the poor management of the ongoing coronavirus epidemic in Israel, as well as due to his corruption trial.

Israel will sign separate agreements with the two Arab countries at the White House ceremony, after which the US will sign a joint three-party agreement called the 'Abraham Accords'.

The Palestinian leadership, which increasingly feels abandoned due to the new alliances of Arab countries with Israel, has condemned these moves, calling them a betrayal, although Netanyahu agreed to halt the plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank due to the normalization of relations with the Emirates.

Reuters writes that Palestinians view the agreement with Israel as a renunciation of Pan-Arabism, which advocated for Israel's withdrawal from occupied territories and the recognition of a Palestinian state in exchange for the normalization of relations between Israel and Arab countries.

Although official diplomatic relations are lacking, some other Arab countries maintain discreet, informal relations with Israel.