In his first public remarks since Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced their agreement to normalize relations, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused the Gulf Arab state of turning its back on the Palestinian cause.
“They have turned their backs on everything, the rights of the Palestinian people, the Palestinian state, the two-state solution and the holy Jerusalem which has been annexed and they announced its annexation. They have turned their backs on all of this and came to tell us that they came to suspend annexation for us Palestinians and we should be happy about it. This is deception,” he said.
The Ramallah-based leader also proclaimed his regime will not accept what he branded as a “nonsense” agreement brokered by Washington between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi. “It is rejected, and it is a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause.”
It is important to note that despite multiple appeals by senior Palestinian officials for an urgent meeting of the Arab League over the Israeli-Emirati peace accord, only a few countries – such as Turkey and Iran – have come to the Palestinians’ defense.
In related developments, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton called the Israeli-UAE deal “an incredible success story,” adding, “It certainly puts a lie to all those people who claimed that when we moved our embassy to Jerusalem, Arab nations would turn their back on Israel and walk away for good. The UAE is an outstanding partner of the United States. They have long invested in the United States military articles.
The Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee also went on to allude to the possibility “that there could be other Arab nations that follow in this path,” which he said “could open the opportunities for more arms’ sales to our allies to defend against enemies like Iran.”
As part of the Israel-UAE accord, the U.S. has agreed to sell F-35 fighter jets to Abu Dhabi.