Trump brokers peace deal between Israel & Bahrain

Washington, September 12

US President Donald Trump on Friday brokered another peace deal in the Middle East with Bahrain announcing that it would normalise diplomatic ties with Israel.

The announcement by Trump after he hosted a historic call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain came a month after he had mediated between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to do the same.

Leaders of the UAE and Israel are scheduled to sign an agreement in this regard at the White House next week. In the spirit of peace and cooperation, Netanyahu and Al Khalifa agreed that Bahrain will fully normalise its diplomatic relations with Israel, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House.

“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. This is a truly historic day,” he said.

Observing that there have been two peace agreements with Israel in the last 72 years, Trump said this was now the second peace agreement that he had announced in the last month. “And I am hopeful that there will be more to follow,” he said, adding that there’s tremendous enthusiasm on behalf of other countries to join.

“And we think, ultimately, you’ll have most countries join, and you’re going to have the Palestinians in a very good position. They want to come in — they’re going to want to come in because all of their friends are in. But we have tremendous enthusiasm for coming into the deal,” he said. — PTI