Israel and the United Arab Emirates will together sign a peace treaty on Tuesday at the ceremony in the White House, according to a source in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s delegation to Washington who spoke on Monday with reporters.
A full peace treaty carries different implications than does a normalization agreement, or “peace declaration,” which is, reportedly, the type of document that will be signed between Israel and Bahrain.
The Israeli official who spoke with reporters declined to discuss details about whether either agreement would include Israeli commitments regarding the Palestinian Authority.
“There’s a lot of sensitivity because we’re talking about four players here and as such the details will not be released beforehand,” the source said, adding, “The difference between this agreement and the ones with Jordan or Egypt is that it does not end a state of war.”
Approximately 1,000 guests are expected to attend Tuesday’s ceremony at the White House, where Netanyahu, the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain will join President Donald Trump in establishing formal diplomatic relations.
The signatures at the ceremony, will still have to be ratified later by the Israeli cabinet and the Knesset to become official law, according to legal experts.
Gantz, Bahrain Counterpart Hold First Conversation
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz spoke with Bahrain’s Defense Minister Abdullah bin Hassan al-Nuami by phone Monday, Bahrain state media reported.
The two men held their first conversation in advance of the signing of the normalization agreement between their two nations on Tuesday.
Gantz invited his Bahraini counterpart to come for an official visit to the Jewish State.
“The two discussed the importance of the Abraham Accords and of the growing normalization with Israel to regional stability in the Middle East, and talked about their mutual expectation that a close partnership be established between the two defense ministries, which will contribute to both countries’ capabilities, and to maintaining regional security,” according to a statement issued by the office of the Israel Minister of Defense (MOD).
According to the MOD office, the two men agreed to continue their conversation in the near future.
The prime minister, meantime, headed straight for the telephone immediately upon arriving in Washington.
Netanyahu held a conference call consultation on preparations for the COVID-19 lockdown in Israel with Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch, National Security Council head Meir Ben Shabbat, ‘Magen Yisrael’ director Prof. Ronni Gamzu, Health Ministry Director General Prof. Chezy Levy and other officials.
The prime minister is expected to meet with President Trump prior to the signing ceremony with the foreign ministers of the UAE and Bahrain.