Ramallah, Palestinian | XINHUA | A senior Palestinian official said on Sunday that the U.S.-brokered normalization between Arab states and Israel is intended for political interests of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain normalized their ties with Israel to support Trump’s re-election campaign and improve Netanyahu’s internal political situation,” Mahmoud al-Aloul, deputy chairman of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement, told the official Palestinian radio Voice of Palestine.
He called on the Arab League to confront the wave of normalization with Israel, noting it must adhere to its decisions related to the Palestinian issue.
On Friday, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Trump and Netanyahu issued a joint statement that announced the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bahrain and Israel.
Bahrain is scheduled to sign its normalization agreement with Israel on Sept. 15 in Washington, during which a similar deal between the UAE and Israel will also be inked.
Bahrain is the second Gulf Arab state that has announced normalization with Israel in less than a month after the UAE did so on Aug. 13. Egypt and Jordan signed their peace treaties with Israel in 1979 and 1994 respectively.
*****
XINHUA