Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the UAE at least twice, accompanied by the head of the National Security Council, Ben Shabbat • President Trump recognized an opportunity - and decided to take on the task of mediation
The official announcement today (Thursday) on the establishment of relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel has been preceded in recent months by quiet and overt moves. The breakthrough came after years of covert effort led by the institution. This is a long line of trust-building steps between the parties. In the last two years, Prime Minister Netanyahu has made at least two visits to the United Arab Emirates, as part of the contacts to formulate the agreement. The visits lasted several hours, and were usually accompanied by the head of the National Security Staff, Meir Ben Shabbat.
Photo: GPO
The joint statement between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States was reached after Israel agreed to relinquish for an indefinite period of time the sovereignty move that the prime minister has pledged many times. Despite the breach of promise, both Israel and the United States stressed last night Except for a temporary suspension.
The US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, told Israel Today that "the words in the joint statement were carefully selected. It is no coincidence that the term 'suspension' is used. Sovereignty does not come off the table and I am convinced that one day the Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria will become part of the State of Israel. We have published the vision of peace and we are committed to it, including to an element that makes some of the territories of Judea and Samaria Israelis. "According to the ambassador," sovereignty is suspended but I do not want to date or say for how long. "
In a phone call from the White House, the ambassador added that "President Trump recognized an opportunity (to reach an agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates) and we had to decide their priorities. It was impossible to implement both (sovereignty and agreement) at the same time. So we had to set priorities. "This is a peace agreement that will be of great importance to Israel and should not be missed," Ambassador Friedman added.
The Prime Minister also emphasized this evening in his statement that he is obligated to apply Israeli law in Judea and Samaria, as he promised. "I am the one who asked President Trump to bring sovereignty into the vision of peace. I am committed to it and I have not given it up. Applying sovereignty is a ceiling. There is no change in my plan to bring sovereignty in coordination with the United States."
Netanyahu added that President Trump is the one who asked him to give up the annexation at this stage. "There was a request from the president that Israel be temporarily dead. I said in advance that sovereignty only makes sense if it is accompanied by American support. I did not remove and will not remove sovereignty from the chapter. I am committed to sovereignty in Israel and will never give it up," Netanyahu added. An exact date when the move will return to the agenda.