The normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, concluded Thursday, was quick to react to the international community, Palestine at the center. The head of the Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, immediately called an emergency meeting of his leadership to decide on the way forward. A few hours later, a press release was released, curbing this decision. “ The Palestinian leadership rejects what the UAE has done. This is a betrayal of Jerusalem and of the Palestinian cause, ”she said. The Palestinian Authority also called for an " emergency meeting " of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Before announcing the recall of its ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.
Read also: Israel welcomes the defection of a Hamas soldier in Gaza
The Islamist movement of Hamas has also strongly criticized the agreement. According to them, this agreement " does not serve the Palestinian cause " and constitutes a " blank check " for the continuation of the " occupation " by the Jewish state. Worse, this normalization is considered " as a continuation of the denial of the rights of the Palestinian people," Hazem Qassem, spokesman for the movement, in power in the Gaza Strip, told AFP. " Shameful, " Iran simply declared, through its press agency, Tasnim.
As for Jordan, it neither welcomed nor rejected the agreement. Its head of diplomacy, Aymane Safadi, said that the future of this normalization would depend on the next actions of Israel, which must put an end to " its illegal enterprise " of occupation of territories. The latter undermines peace efforts, as well as " its violations of the rights of the Palestinians, " he said.
"Historic stage"
But the agreement did not only make people unhappy. Joe Biden, yet Donald Trump's Democratic rival in the race for the White House, has been a good player, despite the American president's involvement in this rapprochement. " Israel and the United Arab Emirates have taken a historic step to erase the deep divisions in the Middle East ", he reacted from his state of Delaware. The same words used by Bahrain, for whom this normalization “will contribute to the strengthening of stability and peace in the region ”. Or by the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. " I appreciate the efforts of the architects of this agreement for the prosperity and stability of our region ", congratulated the Head of State, whose country is a signatory, also under the tutelage of Washington, of the first peace treaty with the Hebrew state in 1979.
Read also: Historic agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates
The head of British diplomacy, Dominic Raab, also welcomed this agreement between " two great friends of the United Kingdom ". " At the end of the day, there is no substitute for direct negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel, the only solution to achieve a two-state solution and lasting peace, " he said. In the same vein, the UN said it hoped for an early resumption of negotiations between Israel and Palestine.