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Saturday, 12 September 2020 (YJC)_ Bahrain and Israel have established full diplomatic relations after the United States hosted a phone call between the leaders of the two nations.
Bahrain and Israel have established full diplomatic relations after the United States hosted a phone call between the leaders of the two nations, President Donald Trump announced Friday.
Trump announced the historic deal on Twitter before giving remarks in the Oval Office of the White House.
"There's no more powerful response to the hatred that spawned 9/11 than the agreement that we're about to tell you," the president said. "In the spirit of peace and cooperation, both leaders also agreed that Bahrain will fully normalize its diplomatic relations with Israel.
"They will exchange embassies and ambassadors, begin direct flights between their countries and launch cooperation initiatives across a broad range of sectors, including health, business, technology, education, security and agriculture."
Jared Kushner, Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law, fostered the negotiations, which culminated with Friday's phone call between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa. Kushner traveled to the Middle East last week to participate in talks, saying he's seeing "optimism" in the region.
"I think the results that we've achieved has been beyond anyone's expectations. And I believe that there's even more to come," he said.
The announcement comes a month after Trump said Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed to a full normalization of relations.
The White House is expected to host leaders from the two countries for a signing ceremony to seal the deal. Bahrain's foreign minister will be present for the event.
Trump said he hoped the two deals will encourage normalization between Israel and other Arab nations.
'I can tell you there's tremendous enthusiasm on behalf of other countries to also join. And we think ultimately, we will have most countries join and you're gonna have the Palestinians in a very good position. They want to come in," he said. (UPI)
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