History was made on August 13, 2020 as President Donald J. Trump was on a phone call with Israel and the UAE making a peace deal between the two countries. This is the first time in 25 years that Israel and the UAE have been able to find common ground. 

    The president, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed released a joint statement on the 13th. Afterward, the three spoke “and agreed to the full normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE.” Their statement said that this was a “diplomatic breakthrough” and it was “the request of President Trump”. As well that Israel will “suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President’s Vision for Peace and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world.”

    Israel and the UAE continued on to say that they will pursue their vision to “achieve a just, comprehensive and enduring resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” and “[they] will immediately expand and accelerate cooperation regarding the treatment of and the development of a vaccine for the Coronavirus. Working together, these efforts will help save Muslim, Jewish, and Chrsitan lives throughout the region.”

    The agreement to be signed will be regarding investments, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare, culture, the environment, the establishment of reciprocal embassies and other areas of mutual benefit. 

    Although the U.S. , Israel and the UAE may be celebrating this historic agreement, the Palestinian leaders have been trying to persude the middle east countries to condem the peace agreement. Palestinian leaders were able to win the Saudi support, however, the UAE and Israel refused. 

    All of this is due to the Palatinian and UAE’s long-standing pan-Arab position, known as the Arab Peace Initiative- which calls for Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory and acceptance of Palestinian statehood in return for normal relations in Arab countries. 

    “We have asked to have a clear condemnation of any breaking out of the Arab peace initiative and we didn’t get it,” said Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki in comments published by the Palestinian WAFA news agency.

    “But we also succeeded in preventing the issuing of any statement that supports or allows the Emirates to go to Tuesday’s signing with Arab backing for normalising ties with Israel.”

   But this hasn’t stopped the celebration for millions of others. Representatives from the UAE and Israel will attend the White House on Tuesday, September 15, 2020  in order to sign the agreement, making it official. On top of that, President Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize of 2021 due to his part in the making of this agreement between the UAE and Israel. 

    It seems as though the world is still moving forward.