ToI must-reads as Israel, UAE and Bahrain start new era at White House ceremony

With the historic events at the White House unfolding over the coming hours, here a few Times of Israel stories from the last couple of days you might want to catch up on.

This is our US correspondent Jacob Magid’s exclusive on the US having assured the UAE, during the negotiations on the Emirates’ accord with Israel, that the Trump administration will not support unilateral Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank before 2024. In a briefing last night, a senior US official was asked about this, and declined to confirm or deny it.

In related vein, Magid also penned this story about what a difference nine months has made for settler leaders. In January, when President Trump unveiled his peace plan, they were part of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s delegation, and euphoric about apparently imminent annexation. Not so today, when some of them flatly accuse him of having deceived them.

Here’s ToI’s editor David Horovitz celebrating the UAE deal — an Arab state finally happy to be seen in Israel’s company.

This is Yossi Klein Halevi on the new agreements as victories for both Israeli power and pragmatism.

And, finally, this is our senior political analyst Haviv Rettig Gur on the differences between Netanyahu the strategist and Netanyahu the politician.