Abraham Accords: Israel & UAE ink historic deal to establish full diplomatic relations

'The Government of the United Arab Emirates and the Government of the State of Israel (hereinafter, the “Parties”)...' reads the historic peace agreement declaration that both States brokered by the United States and signed under the witness of US President Donald Trump.

Signed on Tuesday at the White House, the US president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were joined by foreign ministers of the UAE and Bahrain to commemorate the historic normalisation agreements inked between Israel and the two Arab countries.

The Agreement recalls the reception held on January 28, 2020, at which the president first presented his 'Vision for Peace' and commitment to continue collective effort to achieve a 'just, comprehensive, realistic and enduring' solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The 7-page long document emphasised the belief that the normalisation of Israeli and Emirati relations is in the interest of both peoples and contributes to the cause of peace in the Middle East and ultimately the world.

Read | Israel and the Arab World: History of Abraham Accord and other 'normalisation' attempts

Expressing deep appreciation for the commitment towards normalisation, the declaration primarily focused on the following points:

1. Establishment of Peace, Diplomatic Relations and Normalisation
2. Charter of Peace guided by UN principles of international law
3. Recognition of sovereignty and Setting up Embassies
4. Working towards Peace and Stability
5. Business and cultural cooperation in the form of education, energy, maritime security, telecommunications, agriculture and food safety, tourism, sports, healthcare, water and legal cooperation.
6. Mutual understanding and co-existence
7. Collective understanding of a strategy for the Middle East
8. Mutual agreement of rights and obligations under the UN charter
9. National legislation and respect for obligations carried out in good faith
10. Security and information exchange
11. Settlement of Disputes
12. Peace Accord to be transmitted to the UN Secy-Gen for registration under provisions of Article 102 of the Charter

Read | US State Secretary arrives in Jerusalem to close historic UAE-Israel Peace Accord

Here's the full signed declaration:

Abraham Accords Peace Agreement by ankit on Scribd

Significance of Abraham Accord

On August 13, an Israel and UAE agreed to sign the Abraham Accord. While news celebrating the historic moment largely unnoticed, here's a little bit of trivia about the peace agreement.
The agreement is expected to be signed in the US in September, just before the North American country goes for presidential polls. If and when the deal is signed, UAE will only be the third Arab country to sign the Abraham Accord after Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994). However, it will be the first Persian Gulf country to sign a deal of this nature with Israel. 

Read | Mike Pompeo "hopeful" more Arab states will normalise ties with Israel after UAE

Origins and historical impact

Abraham Accord was named as such to honour the patriarch of three major Abrahamic religions — Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 and the exodus of more than 7.5 lakh Palestinians from the area there have only been two peace agreements brokered between Israel and other Arab countries. However, after the explosive news of UAE agreeing to sign the accord to normalise relations, rumours have swelled up over Bahrain and Oman soon following suit. Here's a look at some of the previous attempts to broker normalisation deals between  Israel and the rest of West Asia and North Africa.

Read | Pompeo arrives in Israel to press Trump's Mideast peace push