Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israeli parliamentarians on Thursday that the Israeli normalization deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has “no secret annexes or hidden clauses” before the Knesset overwhelmingly approved the deal, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Eighty members of the Knesset voted in favor of the agreement and 13 voted against it, all of whom are from the Joint List, which comprises Arab Israelis.
#Israel's #Knesset approves normalization deal with #UAE https://t.co/KSzLJNbXbO pic.twitter.com/GrSHzjWvsg
— ANADOLU AGENCY (ENG) (@anadoluagency) October 15, 2020
The Arab Joint List disclosed in a statement that while it aspires to strengthen relations between Arabs in Israel and Arab nations, its decision stems from a political standing that opposes the peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump, also known as the deal of the century.
The statement explained that the deal of the century shows a stark hostility to the Palestinians’ rights, including the right to self-determination and establishing their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
#Trump Called on #UAE Crown Prince to ‘Encourage Other #Arab States to #Normalize with #Israel’ https://t.co/DyvY6lfEog via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/Q8AOf5ywNO
— @palestinechron (@PalestineChron) October 16, 2020
Last August, Israel and the UAE announced reaching a US-brokered agreement to normalize relations. Soon after, fellow Arab Gulf state Bahrain reached a similar agreement, with speculations pointing to a third possible normalisation deal between Israel and Sudan. The two Arab countries each officially signed the deal with Israel at the White House last September.
The Arab world and Israel have been at odds since 1948. Many in the Arab world despised the violence that Palestinians were subjected to for the forceful creation of the Jewish state. Egypt was the first country to normalise its relations with Israel in 1981, sparking a wave of outrage from fellow Arabs and critics within Egypt.
(Palestine Chronicle, MEMO, Social Media)
