Free Republic

Iran’s political and military leadership in Iran is escalating its threatening tone towards the UAE following the signing of last week’s historic diplomatic agreement with Israel. The Islamic Republic is warning the UAE of the negative consequences that will result from the expansion of Israeli activity and influence in the Emirates. In a detailed Hebrew-language piece written for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) by Lt. Col. Michael Segal, the author noted that the recurring theme in the Iranian speakers’ statements is that of the “betrayal” by the United Arab Emirates of the Palestinian Authority and their Muslim brethren,...

For nearly four years, Washington foreign policy experts and Obama administration alumni warned that the Trump administration was jeopardizing any prospects for Middle East peace. By withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, we were told, the U.S. would alienate itself from its allies. By moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, it would inflame the anger of millions of Arab Muslims. By recognizing Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights, it would estrange the Arab states. By maintaining close relations with the Israeli government, it would imperil the lives of Palestinians. With such a grim record of prediction, Thursday’s historic announcement that...

Israel and the United Arab Emirates reached a historic peace deal on Thursday that will lead to a full normalization of diplomatic relations between the two Middle Eastern nations in an agreement that U.S. President Donald Trump helped broker.

ABU DHABI, 13th August, 2020 (WAM) -- President Donald J. Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, spoke today and agreed to the full normalisation of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. This historic diplomatic breakthrough will advance peace in the Middle East region and is a testament to the bold diplomacy and vision of the three leaders and the courage of the United Arab Emirates and Israel to chart a new path that will...

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi praised the newly-announced agreement of normalization between the United Arab of Emirates and Israel under the US brokerage. “I followed with great interest and appreciation the tripartite joint statement between the United States of America, the […] United Arab Emirates and Israel regarding the agreement to stop Israel's annexation of the Palestinian territories,” said President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on his official Twitter on Thursday. He praised this move as it would “bring peace to the Middle East,” Saying “I value the efforts that were exerted by those who in charge of this agreement in...

For once, I am going to agree with President Trump in his use of his favorite adjective: “huge.” The agreement brokered by the Trump administration for the United Arab Emirates to establish full normalization of relations with Israel, in return for the Jewish state forgoing, for now, any annexation of the West Bank, was exactly what Trump said it was in his tweet: a “HUGE breakthrough.” I have followed the Middle East for too long to ever write the sentence “the region will never be the same again.” The forces of sectarianism, tribalism, corruption and anti-pluralism run deep there. But...

2020 saved its weirdest twist for August: Jared Kushner’s going to win a Nobel prize.They’ll never give it to Trump, not even if he negotiates world peace. But Jared, the White House’s foremost Democrat, might be acceptable to the committee. His most intriguing comments this morning after normalized relations between Israel and the UAE were announced haven’t been noticed much elsewhere, to my surprise: “There is a good chance that another country could make a deal with Israel in the coming days,” Kushner said at the White House. Speaking to reporters after he unveiled the historic agreement, Trump suggested...

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said, “the Arab countries will be ready to give security guarantees to Israel,” if Israel leaves the territories we liberated in 1967 (which includes the Kotel, of course), according to a report in Sputnik News. Coming from Jordan, the country on the verge of collapse and takeover by ISIS, that’s just a barrel of laughs. ..... Safadi added: “We consider the settlement of the Palestinian problem as a core of tensions in our region. That is why we definitely plan to create additional conditions for security and stability in our region and in the whole...

IMMEDIATELY AFTER the 1991 Gulf war, the first Bush administration convened in Madrid an international conference on the Israel-Palestinian conflict. This was an event that political leaders all over the world had been pursuing as if it were the holy grail of international diplomacy. It set in motion a decade of “peacemaking” that included the treaty between Israel and Jordan but whose most visible fruit was the Oslo accords of 1993. In recent months, three years into the bloody Palestinian assault on Israel that the Oslo peace process became, the same dynamic has once again been in play, as international...