Netanyahu Arrives in U.S. to Sign Normalization Deals With UAE, Bahrain

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu landed early Monday in the United States ahead of a ceremony at the White House on Tuesday where he and the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain will formally establish diplomatic relations.

Netanyahu’s plane landed at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, after Bahrain’s foreign minister, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, arrived Sunday evening.

The texts of the agreements have not yet been released, but the two Gulf states have agreed to fully normalize ties with Israel, in a U.S.-brokered diplomatic breakthrough widely seen as a dramatic shift in attitudes toward Israel in parts of the Arab world.

The normalization of relations with the UAE and Bahrain follow Israel’s treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.

Calling the trip “historic,” Netanyahu said Sunday evening that he had brought about “two peace deals in one month,” and said they would mean an economic boon for Israel.

Immediately upon arriving in Washington, Netanyahu held a conference call consultation on preparations for the lockdown in Israel with Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch, National Security Council head Meir Ben Shabbat, Prof. Ronni Gamzu, Health Ministry Director General Prof. Chezy Levy and other officials.