Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner during the announcement of an agreement normalizing relations between Bahrain and Israel, September 11, 2020. -
Andrew Harnik / AP / SIPA
He was smiling in the Oval Office.
US President Donald Trump on Friday announced the normalization of relations between Bahrain and Israel, continuing to reshuffle the cards in the Middle East to further isolate Iran, Washington's intimate enemy.
Another HISTORIC breakthrough today!
Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain agree to a Peace Deal - the second Arab country to make peace with Israel in 30 days!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 11, 2020
“It's a truly historic day!
“, Launched the tenant of the White House, which garners a precious diplomatic success with less than eight weeks of the election where he will run for a second term against Joe Biden.
"There are things happening in the Middle East that nobody could even have considered," he added, all smiles, a month after the agreement reached with the United Arab Emirates.
Normalizing relations between Israel and U.S. allies in the Middle East, including the wealthy Gulf monarchies, is a key goal of the Republican billionaire's regional strategy.
"As other countries normalize their relations with Israel, which will happen, we are convinced, fairly quickly, the region will become more stable, more secure and more prosperous," the US president continued.
Common hostility towards Iran
As the presidential tweet was sent, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was making the same announcement from Jerusalem, hailing "another peace deal with another Arab country."
Bahrain and Israel share the same hostility towards Tehran, which Manama accuses of instrumentalizing the Shiite community in Bahrain against the ruling Sunni dynasty.
In Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hailed a "historic" agreement and an important step for stability and peace in the Middle East "which will make it possible to find a just and permanent solution to the Palestinian cause".
Donald Trump has also once again, despite the circumstances, displayed his optimism about the development of relations with the Palestinians.
"They are going to be in a very good position," he said.
"They will want to be part of (the discussions) because all their friends will be there."
The Palestinian Authority and the Islamist movement Hamas for their part immediately castigated this announcement.
"Stab in the back of the Palestinian cause"
"The agreement between Bahrain and Israel is a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people," Ahmad Majdalani, Minister of Social Affairs of the Palestinian Authority, told AFP.
Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, denounced an "aggression" causing "serious damage" to the Palestinian cause.
When he arrived at the White House in 2017, Donald Trump had promised to resolve the inextricable Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and had entrusted his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner with the task of proposing a peace agreement.
But the Palestinians quickly cut ties with the US administration to protest its decisions deemed ostensibly pro-Israel, and categorically rejected the "vision for peace" presented earlier this year.
The joint statement released by the White House specifies that Bahrain will join the signing ceremony scheduled for Tuesday at the White House in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This agreement will make the Emirates and Bahrain the third and fourth Arab countries to establish diplomatic ties with the Jewish state, after the peace treaties concluded with Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994).
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