Covid-19 requires, there was no handshake to immortalize this moment.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed historic agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on Tuesday in the United States, under the watchful eye of Donald Trump.
The head of the Israeli government signed these bilateral agreements with Bahrain's foreign minister Abdel Latif al-Zayan and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, before a joint statement initialed by the three men. and the American president.
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Five minutes to understand the "historic" agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates
The Emirates and Bahrain thus become the first Arab countries to recognize Israel from Egypt and Jordan, in 1979 and 1994. The two Sunni monarchies share with the Jewish state an animosity towards Shiite Iran, Washington's number one enemy in the region.
Concretely, air links should be established in the coming months, with tourist visas in support.
Economic exchanges are expected to intensify, going beyond the military industry alone.
In short, relations between the three countries are heading towards normalization.
"A New Middle East"
“After decades of division and conflict, we are witnessing the dawn of a new Middle East,” praised Donald Trump during a ceremony with great pomp in the gardens of the White House.
After asserting that "five or six additional Arab countries" would "very soon" follow the example of the two Gulf States, he then referred to an even more ambitious goal of "seven or eight", "including the big ones", Saudi Arabia “when the time comes”.
Benjamin Netanyahu considered that the agreement sealed in Washington was a "turning point in history" likely to "end the Israeli-Arab conflict once and for all".
On the other hand, he remained silent on the fate of the Palestinians, who were largely absent from Tuesday, even if the ministers of the Emirates and Bahrain recalled their cause.
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Many Arab oil states have quietly cultivated ties with Israeli authorities for years, but this normalization offers rich opportunities, especially economic ones, for those countries trying to undo the ravages of the pandemic.