UAE FM thanks Netanyahu for ‘halting’ annexation of Palestinian lands

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan personally thanked Netanyahu for “choosing peace and for halting the annexation of Palestinian territories.”

“Your excellency, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of the state of Israel, thank you for choosing peace, and for halting the annexation of Palestinian territories, a decision that reinforces our shared will to achieve a better future for generations to come,” al-Nahyan ahead of signing a historic peace deal with Israel during a ceremony at the White House.

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The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed agreements on Tuesday to normalize ties with Israel, becoming the first Arab states in a quarter century to break a longstanding taboo, in a strategic realignment of Middle East countries against Iran.

US President Donald Trump hosted the White House ceremony, capping a dramatic month when first the UAE and then Bahrain agreed to reverse decades of ill will without a resolution of Israel’s dispute with the Palestinians.

In front of a crowd of several hundred people on the White House lawn, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed accords with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani.

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