A historic peace agreement has been made between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, making it the first time Israel has struck a deal with a major Arab state in over 25 years.
“HUGE breakthrough today! Historic Peace Agreement between our two GREAT friends, Israel and the United Arab Emirates!” President Trump tweeted Thursday morning.
HUGE breakthrough today! Historic Peace Agreement between our two GREAT friends, Israel and the United Arab Emirates!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2020
The agreement features a joint statement issued by President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahya.
In the next several weeks, delegates from Israel and the UAE will meet “to sign bilateral agreements regarding investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare, culture, the environment, the establishment of reciprocal embassies, and other areas of mutual benefit,” the statement says.
“Opening direct ties between two of the Middle East's most dynamic societies and advanced economics will transform the region by spurring economic growth, enhancing technological innovation and forging closer people-to-people relations,” the statement continued.
The peace agreement also notes that the UAE and Israel “will immediately expand and accelerate cooperation regarding the treatment and the development for a vaccine for the coronavirus.”
“Working together these efforts will help save Muslim Jewish and Christian life throughout the region,” the statement says.
As part of the peace deal and at Trump’s request, Israel will suspend its plans to annex up to 30 percent of the West Bank, which include Judea and Samaria, CBN News reports.
“Israel will suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President’s Vision for Peace and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim World,” the statement said.
Joint Statement of the United States, the State of Israel, and the United Arab Emirates pic.twitter.com/oVyjLxf0jd
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2020
One senior Israeli official noted that the suspension was only temporarily put in place so that Israel can “first implement the historic peace agreement with the UAE.”
During the announcement of the peace agreement in the Oval Office, Trump said the action would be known as the “Abraham Accord,” named after the “father of all three great faiths,” that is Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
“No person better symbolizes the potential for unity of these three great faiths,” U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said.
The UAE has become the third Arab country to have established peaceful ties with Israel. In 1979, Israel signed a peace treaty with Egypt and later made one with Jordan in 1994.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Lepusinensis Lysenko Alexander
Design Credit: Kayla Koslosky
Video courtesy: ABC News
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
