Netanyahu to bring UAE peace treaty for approval in cabinet, Knesset next week
Agreement to fully normalize ties with Abu Dhabi, signed at White House ceremony last month, must be ratified by ministers and the legislature before taking effect
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will bring Israel’s agreement on full diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates for cabinet and Knesset approval next week, his office said Thursday.
Netanyahu signed a “Treaty of Peace” with the UAE last month, but the pact must be ratified by ministers and the legislature before it takes effect.
A copy of the agenda of Monday’s cabinet meeting said ministers would vote to bring the treaty for Knesset approval, with a plenum vote to be held on Thursday.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, “the text of the peace agreement was distributed today for Knesset members to review.”
Along with the deal with the UAE, Netanyahu signed a “Declaration of Peace” with Bahrain committing to establishing full diplomatic relations. During the September 15 signing ceremony at the White House, Israel, Bahrain and the UAE all signed the Abraham Accords, with US President Donald Trump signing as a witness.
Approval of the agreement with the UAE as a peace treaty will put it on par with the treaties reached with both Egypt and Jordan. Unlike Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab countries with which Jerusalem has official ties, Israel and the United Arab Emirates were never at war.
Ahead of the signing ceremony, the Prime Minister’s Office clarified that the agreement with the UAE will only go into effect once it is voted on by the legislature, after a petition was filed to bar the accord from going into effect until it was approved by the cabinet or Knesset.
The text of the agreement was only released after the White House ceremony.
No date has been given on when Israel is expected to finalize its normalization agreement with Bahrain, but an Israeli delegation flew to the Gulf state last month to hammer out the details of the deal.
Several other Arab states have been named as countries that could be next to normalize ties with Israel, most notably Sudan.
