President Donald Trump To Hold Israel-UAE Peace Deal Ceremony At The White House Next Week

The White House scheduled a ceremony next Tuesday to celebrate a groundbreaking peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, officials confirmed. During the meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan are expected to sign the agreement, which normalizes relations between the two Middle Eastern nations.

The ceremony will be the first-ever meeting between an Israeli prime minister and an Emirati minister, and the first signing of a peace deal between an Arab state and Israel in more than 25 years. In 1994, Israel signed a peace agreement with Jordan. Before that, the last agreement was signed with Egypt in 1979.

Israel and the UAE agreed to the deal on Aug. 13. It requires Israel to halt annexation of parts of the West Bank.

The deal saw a mixed reaction in the Middle East and Muslim world. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, a close ally of the UAE, welcomed the deal, with Oman also expressing support. Iran and Turkey denounced the agreement along with Palestinian leaders. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas referred to the deal as a “betrayal” while Hamas said it serves the “Zionist narrative.”

The administration had hoped the deal would encourage other Arab nations to follow suit, but that has yet to materialize.

President Trump has been known for pursuing pro-Israel policies. In December 2017, Trump announced he would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, subsequently moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and provoking a mixed response from the international community. Trump also floated a peace plan between the Israelis and Palestinians, but Palestinian leadership swiftly rejected the proposal.