President Donald Trump on Tuesday said five or six more countries are ready to make peace with Israel, Times of Israel reported. However, he did not name those countries.
Shortly before the signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Trump said, "We're very far down the road with about five additional countries" Frankly, I think we could have had them here today."
"We'll have at least five or six countries coming along very quickly" They want to see peace. They've been fighting for a long time". They're warring countries but they're tired of fighting.. You're going to see a lot of very great activity. It's going to be peace in the Middle East."
Answering questions about what Israel gets from the new deals, Trump said, "We'll be signing up [other] nations" These are very strong agreements. This is serious peace" What Israel gets, the most important thing Israel gets, is peace."
Trump also quoted as saying: "I really believe Iran wants to make a deal." He advised Tehran to wait until after the elections, however. If "sleepy Joe Biden" were to win the elections, he said Iran and especially China "would own the United States."
He said he'd spoken with the king of Saudi Arabia, and "positive things will happen" This is peace in the Middle East without blood all over the sand."
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was quoted as saying: "Israel doesn't feel isolated at all. It's enjoying the greatest diplomatic triumph of its history." Those who are feeling isolated, says Netanyahu, "are the tyrants of Tehran."
Israel Hayom
Meanwhile, the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom Tuesday quoted British-Pakistani analyst Noor Dahri as saying that Oman, Sudan, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia are likely to follow UAE and Bahrain and seek rapprochement with Israel sooner than believed.
Analyst Noor Dahri, founder and executive director of Islamic Theology of Counter Terrorism, a UK-based think tank, told Israel Hayom Monday that many other Arab countries have taken notice of the regional winds of change, and may follow in Abu Dhabi and Manama's footsteps sooner that one may believe.
"The peace agreements of the UAE and Bahrain with Israel are just a door [for them] for opening further diplomatic, trade and strategic relations with the Israel. There are many countries that are awaiting their term to join the agreement, such as Oman, Sudan, Morocco and Saudi Arabia," he said.
However, a diplomat in the Gulf was quoted Tuesday by Reuters as saying that for Saudi Arabia, the issue is more related to what he called its religious position as the leader of the Muslim world, and that a formal deal with Israel would take time and is unlikely to happen while King Salman is still in power.
"Any normalization by Saudi will open doors for Iran, Qatar and Turkey to call for internationalizing the two holy mosques," he said, referring to periodic calls by critics of Riyadh to have Mecca and Medina placed under international supervision.
A big deal but not a peace deal
Fred
Kaplan of the Slate Tuesday said It is a big deal not a peace deal because Israel has not been at war with either of the
two Gulf Arab states. In fact, for years now, it has quietly been conducting
trade and backroom diplomacy with both."
However, "normalized relations"which the accord establishes marks a huge step
forward: the creation of embassies, commercial air routes, tourism, security
and intelligence ties, and access to Israel's high-technology products and
marketplace.
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