http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/285348
No doubt making new friends is a good thing, and so it is good that Israel and the United Arab Emirates…UAE…have shaken hands toward an official peace deal.
The two were not at war, but that’s beside the point, for the moment… but at present, kudos to the Trump Administration for helping to pull this off.
So why am I not thrilled? (Neither is this or this writer, and for excellent reasons.}
The United Arab Emirates and Israel have agreed to work toward establishing full diplomatic ties as part of a deal to halt, for now, Israel’s controversial plans to annex occupied West Bank land sought by Palestinians for their future state.
If the UAE establishes formal ties with Israel, it would be only the third Arab country — after Jordan and Egypt — to recognize Israel, and the first Gulf nation to do so.
Thursday’s declaration, the officials involved said, was a prelude to delegations from Israel and the UAE meeting in the coming weeks to forge bilateral agreements in an array of sectors, including tourism, security, telecommunications, technology, energy and healthcare.
Direct flights would be established as well as reciprocal embassies — although it was likely the UAE would go to Tel Aviv and not the disputed holy city of Jerusalem, claimed by both Israel and the Palestinians and controversially recognized as Israeli by Trump, the only world leader to do so.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SkKHL0GzP
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the day-to-day ruler of the UAE, confirmed Thursday that the Gulf state had reached an agreement that would end Israel's annexation plans.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/285336
In an interview with Kan Bet Sunday morning, Minister Katz explained that the application of sovereignty was frozen even before the agreement with the United Arab Emirates, and that "presenting the agreement as related to it is more convenient for all the Arab nations."
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash was interviewed over the weekend by La Figaro newspaper and said the agreement was intended first and foremost to remove from the agenda for good Israeli sovereignty moves in Judea and Samaria.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/285332
"When Netanyahu decided to form a coalition with Blue and White and throw out Yamina, I told everyone who asked me that there would probably be no sovereignty," Shaked said in an interview with Kan Bet Sunday morning.
I believe the president of the United States and his son-in-law who said sovereignty was off the table," she added.
"The prime minister has chosen to give up sovereignty in exchange for normalizing relations with the Emirates. It should be put on the table - with the pros and the cons.
In Shaked's opinion, Netanyahu should have gone ahead with applying sovereignty even if it meant a deal with the UAE would not have been reached at this time. "Applying sovereignty, certainly with the support of American government - could have been a one-time opportunity."
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/08/14/trump-mideast-israel-uae-deal-395567
The Trump administration announced a deal this week between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which was immediately hailed as “an historic day for peace in the Middle East” by Mike Pompeo’s State Department. A flurry of similar analyses framed the deal as “a big win for Trump,” and a “geopolitical earthquake.”
But that was exactly the point of this deal: a lot of publicity for the deal-makers, but not much substance to the deal. In fact, this “breakthrough” is mostly a PR boost for the three leaders involved: President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mohamed bin Zayed, crown prince of Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile, the costs will be borne by the one party not involved in the arrangement, the Palestinians.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/14/middleeast/israel-uae-agreement-trump-intl/index.html
This is not THE Middle East peace deal that has beguiled a generation of American presidents, the one President Donald Trump commissioned his son-in-law and special advisor Jared Kushner to conclude.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/13/politics/michael-cohen-book-cover/index.html
Michael Cohen released the foreword of his upcoming book on Thursday, teasing what he claims is a behind-the-scenes exposé of his acts as President Donald Trump's fixer -- from stiffing contractors on a business deal to lying about extra-marital affairs to the President's attempts to "insinuate himself into the world of President Vladimir Putin."
