Netanyahu says pact with UAE proves 'Land for Peace' demand wrong

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on August 16 said that the agreement signed between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv proves that the country doesn't need to retreat from the occupied lands in order to achieve peace with Arab states. The United Nations maintains that Israel has occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank, which the Jewish country had recently expressed plans to annex but the new US-brokered pact with UAE requires Tel Aviv to suspend it for the moment. 

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Netanyahu in a video statement on Sunday said that for too long the Palestinians and the countries who agreed with them thought peace between Israel and Arab states could not be achieved without the country's retreatment from occupied lands, uprooting of settlements, withdrawal to 1967 lines and division of Jerusalem. Netanyahu added that the latest deal with UAE proves the concept wrong. Palestine wants Israel to retreat from West Bank and remove the UN-deemed illegal settlements from its territories. 

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UAE-Israel deal

On August 13, Israel and the United Arab Emirates along with the US released a joint statement that US President Donald Trump, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed agreed to the full normalisation of relations between UAE and Israel. With the signing of the deal, UAE became the third country after Egypt and Jordan to normalise relations with Israel. Major Muslim countries, including Iran and Turkey, condemned the UAE's action. Hamas, the de facto governing authority of the Gaza Strip, immediately denounced the agreement raising concerns about the Palestinian cause. 

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