Israeli Cabinet Approves Bahrain, UAE Accords
Israel’s government on Sunday October 25, 2020, gave final approval to the normalization of ties with the United Arab Emirates, an official statement said, after lawmakers ratified the pact earlier this month.
The government’s weekly cabinet meeting also endorsed sending an agreement on establishing diplomatic relations with Bahrain to parliament for its go ahead, the statement further said.
An Israeli parliamentary spokesman said a date had yet to be set for a plenum vote on the accord with Bahrain.
The UAE in August became the third Arab state to establish relations with Israel following Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. It was quickly followed by Bahrain.
The US-brokered deals were formalized at the White House on September 15.
On Friday the White House announced that Sudan was to be the latest Arab nation to recognize Israel, and both US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have said that more countries will follow.
The three new accords were condemned by the Palestinians and broke with years of Arab League policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The consensus had been that there should be no relations with the Jewish state until it makes peace with the Palestinians.
The UAE and Israel have already signed treaties on direct flights and visa-free travel, along with accords on investment protection, science and technology.
