Linda Givetash and Lauren Egan - NBC News
Israel signed agreements on Tuesday to normalize its ties with the Persian Gulf states the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which were negotiated by President Donald Trump and are described as diplomatic advances.
The treaties, called the
Abrahamic Accords
, were signed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu;
the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan;
and Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani during a ceremony at the White House.
US President Donald Trump signs agreement with Israel and Arab states Reuters
"We are here this afternoon to change the course of history," Trump said as leaders met to sign off, "after decades of division and conflict, this is the dawn of a new Middle East."
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"These agreements demonstrate that the nations of the region are freeing themselves from the failed approaches of the past," Trump continued, "the people of the Middle East will no longer allow hatred of Israel to be fostered as an excuse for radicalism or extremism."
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The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are the third and fourth Arab states to normalize their ties with Israel, even though the country has not reached a resolution to its long-standing dispute with the Palestinians.
The last peace treaties with Israel were signed by Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.
During bilateral meetings, before the treaties were signed, Trump said his administration was in talks with several additional nations to sign similar deals, but declined to name the countries when pressured by journalists.
"At least five or six countries will join too soon," Trump said, adding: "They want there to be peace. They have been fighting for a long time."
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White House aide Jared Kushner (Trump's son-in-law), who helped negotiate the deals, said in a statement Monday night: "Instead of focusing on past conflicts, people are now focused on creating a future. vibrant full of endless possibilities. "
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The new agreements will see Israel suspend its claim to sovereignty over the areas outlined in the Middle East peace plan that the Trump Administration has drawn up.
Though they are a diplomatic victory for Trump less than two months before the November presidential election, the accords have outraged Palestinians and sparked protests across the region.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned the move and said on Twitter that it erodes unity among Arab states.
"This day will be marked on the calendar of Palestinian pain and on the record of Arab divisions," he said.
Critics warn that the new agreements also run the risk of undermining the 2002 Arab peace initiative, which was proposed by Saudi Arabia and backed by the Arab League, which called for normalization of ties with Israel on the condition that the forces Israelis will withdraw from the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
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"A peace that does not include respect for the rights of all Palestinians will be a peace without justice," said Shawan Jabarin, director general of the independent Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq.
Still, the deals are a positive development for the region, paving the way for more trade, tourism and diplomacy, Yossi Mekelberg, professor of international relations at Regent University in London, told NBC News, Telemundo's sister network.
"This is a great moment, it is a historic moment and we should not underestimate how important it is," he said.
The Persian Gulf states could use these agreements to push Israel into more meaningful negotiations with the Palestinians, who had refused to participate in Trump's Middle East peace initiative, Mekelberg added.
Israeli officials have previously said that the country seeks to expand its ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world.
Those relationships have quietly thawed in recent years, unwittingly united against a common enemy, Iran.
With information from Reuters