Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed a senior delegation from the United States in Jerusalem, where he reiterated excitement over the ground-breaking agreement to normalize relations with United Arab Emirates.
Saying that “today’s breakthroughs will become tomorrow’s norms,” the Israeli leader expressed hope that the deal with Abu Dhabi, also known as the Abraham Accord, would facilitate similar agreements with other Arab states.
“I believe that peace favors the strong. Peace favors those who innovate. Peace favors those who are willing to confront the neighborhood bully. Peace favors Israel,” said Prime Minister Netanyahu, underscoring that “this historic peace with the Emirates and with others that are in line” could not be sealed “without the tremendous support of our great and loyal friends from the United States of America.”
Netanyahu further asserted that the “The Trump plan is the first realistic initiative for an Israeli-Palestinian peace.” He said that according to the White House proposal, “Israelis and Palestinians won’t have to leave their homes. No one will be uprooted. Areas of Jewish population and areas vital to Israel’s security are being incorporated into sovereign Israel and Israel will retain overriding security control in the areas West of the Jordan River, both on the ground and in the air. I have expressed my willingness to negotiate peace, on the basis of the Trump plan, and as more Arab and Muslim countries join the circle of peace, the Palestinians will eventually understand that their veto is dissipated and they will be hard-pressed to remain outside the community of peace.”
While standing alongside the Israeli leader, U.S. Senior Presidential Adviser Jared Kushner commented that he has given “his all” to working on peace in the Middle East since being tasked to do so by his father-in-law, President Donald Trump. Kushner added that the Abraham Accord “is a giant step forward” which, as the grandson of two Holocaust survivors, “means more to me and to my family than I could ever express.” While he acknowledged that “there is still much work left to accomplish,” Kushner stressed that “we will continue to pursue peace between Israel, the Biblical homeland of the Jewish people, and its Arab and Muslim neighbors,” concluding that “I have never been more hopeful about peace.”
U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, who accompanied Kushner and other leading U.S. officials echoed those sentiments saying “We believe that other Arab and Muslim countries will soon follow the United Arab Emirates lead, and normalize relations with Israel. And Jared (Kushner) and his team and our NSC team are working very hard on that front.”
Netanyahu went on to lambast Iran for opposing the evident benefits of regional peace between Israel and the Arab and Muslim world. “Of course these positive developments are not welcomed by everyone. While we see progress and modernity, the ‘Tyrants of Tehran’ want to take us back to a dark age of theocratic medievalism,” he said, “emphasizing that “And if this murderous, terrorist regime ever developed nuclear weapons or the means to develop them, they would promptly scuttle the peace and they would endanger the entire world,” which “We must not let that happen — and we will not let that happen.”
U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien further underscored that, “because President Trump refused to continue appeasing Iran, the Mullahs have seen their oil and other revenue reduced to the lowest point in history. By the maximum pressure campaign led by the United States, Iran is facing an unprecedented financial crisis and what that means is that Iran does not have the funds to support their proxies to pursue wars across the Middle East and to support terrorists. The United States designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization and restored deterrence against Iran through decisive action.”
It is important to note that the American officials left for an historic visit to Abu Dhabi this morning accompanied by a senior Israeli delegation headed by National Security Adviser Meir Ben Shabbat, to hold meetings with their Emirati counterparts toward ratification of the Abraham Accord.