The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed agreements on September 15 to establish formal ties with Israel, becoming the first Arab states in a quarter century to break a longstanding taboo.

US President Donald Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and foreign ministers of the UAE and Bahrain for the signing of the historic Abraham Accords at the White House. Netanyahu signed accords with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed and Bahrain by Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani.

As per the agreements, the UAE and Bahrain will establish embassies, exchange ambassadors, cooperate and work together with Israel across a range of sectors, including tourism, trade, healthcare and security.

The deals, denounced by the Palestinians, make them the third and fourth Arab states to take such steps toward normalising relations. Egypt was the first Arab State to sign a peace deal with Israel in 1979. Jordan signed a peace pact in 1994.

President Trump helped broker the historic agreement between the UAE and Israel to normalise relations in August. Last week, Trump announced that Bahrain had also reached a deal with Israel to normalise relations.

The deal between the UAE and Israel represented a significant breakthrough in diplomatic relations between the two nations as the Trump administration works to facilitate cooperation between Arab nations and Israel. 

Trump, seeking re-election in the November 3 presidential election against his Democratic Party rival, Joe Biden, is hoping that the two major diplomatic deals would help him in the polls.

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