The President of the United States announced the second Arab state to establish full relations with Israel - in less than a month • Prime Minister Netanyahu: "This is a new era, peace for peace, economy for economy" • "We have invested in peace for many years and now he will invest in us"
History in the Middle East: US President Donald Trump announced tonight (Friday) that the Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain has agreed to sign a peace agreement with Israel.
In a tweet on Twitter, President Trump wrote: "Another historic breakthrough! Our two great friends, Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain, have reached a peace agreement. This is the second Arab state to make peace with Israel in thirty days."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Citizens of Israel, I am excited to announce that tonight we will reach another peace agreement with another Arab country, with Bahrain. It joins the historic peace agreement with the United Arab Emirates. It took us 26 years to reach the second peace agreement with an Arab state. "The third, and it took us not 26 years but 29 days to reach a peace agreement between the third Arab state and the fourth Arab state, and there will be more."
"This is a new era of peace. Peace for peace. Economy for economy. We have invested in peace for many years and now peace will invest in us, will bring very large investments to the Israeli economy and that is very important. All these agreements are made by hard work behind the scenes for years but They have come to fruition through the important help of our friend the President of the United States, President Trump, and I would like to thank him and his team for this important help.
A new era - peace for peace, "said the prime minister.
Government officials in Washington earlier confirmed that Bahrain's heir, Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa (son of the King of Bahrain), would attend the signing ceremony of the peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates on September 15, and declare normalization with Israel.
According to US media reports, President Trump is expected to announce the move today (Friday), which is expected to take place next week in Washington.
Earlier, Trump said at a White House press conference that another country could join the peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and even stated that some countries "stand in line" to enter into an agreement.
Since the announcement of the normalization between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, there have been contacts between the White House and the Royal House in Bahrain with the aim of bringing about a normalization agreement between the Kingdom and Israel.
President Trump's adviser, Jared Kushner, visited the Bahrain capital of Manama earlier this month and met with Crown Prince Salman.
Earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Bahrain, meeting with King Hamad al-Khalifa and Regent Salman.
Pompeo and Kushner asked Bahrain to announce a normalization agreement with Israel, even before the signing ceremony of the agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in the White House next Tuesday.
The US president said during a news conference: "Next week we will sign an agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel in the White House, and another country may join. I can tell you that countries are waiting in line because they want to enter into an agreement."
The president added: "You will hear about countries joining in a short period of time. Then we can have peace in the Middle East."
The president hinted in the direction of Saudi Arabia and said: "I think eventually you will see some countries entering into an agreement. The big ones are going to enter. I talked to the King of Saudi Arabia, so we talk. We just started the dialogue. You will see them enter."
Trump also referred to the Palestinians and said he thought they would "return to the groove soon."
The president said: "Honestly, I'm surprised they did not join the negotiating table earlier."
Trump has even stated that he will stop freezing Palestinian Authority assets in the United States if the Palestinians return to the negotiating table and show a willingness to reach an agreement.
The announcement comes less than a week after the president announced during a meeting at the White House with Kosovo and Serbia leaders, who signed an economic memorandum of understanding, that Kosovo would maintain diplomatic relations with Israel and that Serbia would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
The ceremonial signing ceremony of the peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is expected to take place on Tuesday at noon (local time) at the White House, with the participation of President Trump.
The Israeli delegation will begin its journey back to Israel immediately upon its completion.
